Visa to add support for four new stablecoins as demand picks upVisa has launched a stablecoin pilot
Visa will add support for four new stablecoins on its settlement platform after the payments giant witnessed a spike in demand for stablecoin-linked card services.
- Visa will add support for four new stablecoins across four different blockchains as part of its expanded settlement platform.
- The company reported a fourfold rise in stablecoin-linked card spending over the last quarter.
- Visa has launched a stablecoin pilot to enable banks to pre-fund cross-border payments.
During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Ryan McInerney told investors that Visa plans to double down on its stablecoin offerings as it reported a fourfold increase in stablecoin-linked Visa card spend over the last quarter compared to a year ago.
“We are adding support for four stablecoins, running on four unique blockchains, representing two currencies, that we can accept and convert to over 25 traditional fiat currencies,” McInerney said.
No other details regarding the specific stablecoins or the blockchains they will operate on were disclosed.
Visa has reported $10.72 billion in revenue and earnings of $2.98 per share this quarter, narrowly beating Wall Street expectations. Even as its core business continues to deliver steady results, the firm has long shown keen interest in stablecoins that have become an increasingly important settlement rail within the payments market.
According to a report from American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz released earlier this month, stablecoins processed roughly $46 trillion in transactions over the past year alone, and managed to surpass Visa’s numbers over the same period.
Visa itself has facilitated nearly $140 billion worth of crypto and stablecoin flows since 2020, as highlighted by McInerney during the earnings call.
At present, Visa already supports major stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC), Euro Coin (EURC), PayPal USD (PYUSD), and Global Dollar (USDG), and has partnered with several crypto-native firms over the years to expand settlement options and improve its cross-border payment capabilities.
“We expanded the number of stablecoins and blockchains available for settlement, and monthly volume has now passed a $2.5 billion annualized run rate,” McInerney added.
Regarding future plans, McInerney said Visa will continue to broaden its stablecoin services for banks and financial institutions while focusing on building more features within its solution layer.
Specifically, the company will focus on tokenization infrastructure that will allow banks to “mint and burn their own stablecoins” using the Visa tokenized asset platform, while also integrating new capabilities to improve “cross-border money movement through Visa Direct,” using stablecoins.
Visa has launched a stablecoin pilot
Last month, Visa unveiled its stablecoin prefunding pilot under Visa Direct, which allows banks and financial institutions to use stablecoins as a funding source for global payouts. giving them faster access to liquidity without locking capital in multiple currencies.
Visa may also be eyeing stablecoins’ role within the decentralized lending market, as evidenced by a separate report it published earlier this month. In the report, it noted that on-chain lending with stablecoins has originated over $670 billion in loans since 2020, and said it plans to support this market by providing the technology and infrastructure that banks and institutions need to enter programmable lending.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
The AI boom may follow the path of the 19th-century railway bubble, and builders may not be the ultimate winners
Goldman Sachs analyst Bobby Molavi compared the current situation to the 19th-century British railway mania: 500 companies spent more than the nation's annual income building 8,000 miles of railway, with most early investors losing out, while the real beneficiaries were the later "passengers." He pointed out that the current AI craze is driven by both debt and momentum, and that the S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio of 18x is only "a bit cheaper." Whether the builders can retain value is uncertain, and history does not offer an optimistic answer.
If Anthropic's IPO goes smoothly and the stock price rises next week, then everything remains the same for AI. Otherwise, some companies will go bankrupt.
The shrinking valuations of two major giants have triggered a chain reaction—investors are adopting more conservative revenue multiples for AI startups and are directly halting high-valuation financing for companies with zero revenue. Multiple venture capital firms have advised their portfolio companies to lower valuation expectations and to quickly build up cash reserves. Market participants warn that the outcome of Anthropic’s IPO will be a barometer for the industry: if successful, the boom will continue; if it fails, some companies may face elimination.
After the Brazilian election, political discount deepens; Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Petrobras (PBR.US), focusing on fuel pricing and dividends
Morgan Stanley still maintains its most optimistic "Overweight" rating, but has lowered its year-end 2027 target price from $31 to $25.
Corning (GLW.US) receives initial "Buy" rating from Jefferies! AI factories driving a fiber optic rush, with a potential global supply gap of up to 30%
For Corning, the recent profit growth mainly comes from the expansion of AI clusters. As the number of optical links crossing cabinets and campuses increases, customers need to deploy more optical fibers within limited conduit and cabinet space, thus driving demand for high-density optical cables and connection systems.
Crypto prices
More
