Visa is bolstering its commitment to stablecoins by integrating five more blockchain networks into its settlement pilot, adopting a multichain strategy for worldwide payments. The company announced on Wednesday that its stablecoin settlement pilot now encompasses nine networks, achieving an annualized rate of $7 billion, marking a 50% increase from the previous quarter.
This program enables issuers and acquirers to use stablecoins for transaction settlements instead of traditional banking channels. The newly integrated blockchain networks include Base from Coinbase, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Tempo, which is backed by Stripe.
These join the existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. Visa's move is timed with the increasing adoption of stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of fiat currencies, as a means of transferring money across borders.
Through pilots and regional rollouts, Visa has been testing this model, including the use of USDC for settlement in card programs across over 50 countries. By using blockchain-based dollars, partners can settle transactions almost instantly, as opposed to waiting several days for funds to move through the banking system.
By supporting multiple networks, Visa aims to provide its partners with access to various liquidity pools without adding complexity. According to Rubail Birwadker, Visa's global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, "Our partners are developing in a multi-chain world and expect their options to reflect this reality. By expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot program to more blockchains, our partners can select the networks that best suit their needs while relying on Visa to provide a unified settlement layer across all of them."