Stripe, Visa and Mastercard Reportedly Set to Back New Stablecoin Platform

Stablecoins are expanding from crypto trading into cross-border payments and institutional settlement, raising the prospect that blockchain rails could complement or bypass traditional card networks. Circle designed Arc as an enterprise-focused Layer 1 blockchain with USDC as its native gas asset and a permissioned validator set at launch. The project matters because bringing Visa, Mastercard and major financial institutions into network operations could give regulated firms a direct role in shaping stablecoin infrastructure. USDC circulation stood at $77.0 billion on March 31, 2026.

Circle on Aug. 5, 2026 named Visa and Mastercard among Arc’s 11 founding institutional validators, alongside BlackRock, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Galaxy, Global Payments, Intercontinental Exchange, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Corporation. The public mainnet is scheduled to launch on Sept. 16, following private-mainnet work with more than 100 ecosystem and institutional builders. Circle expects the validator group to expand to 20 to 40 operators over time, deepening both card networks’ involvement in stablecoin infrastructure while preserving their ability to support competing digital-asset ecosystems.

Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto trading into payments, cross-border transfers and corporate treasury operations, prompting established networks to connect blockchain rails with conventional finance. Visa’s strategy is to shield banks and fintechs from the technical and compliance burden of running wallets and onchain workflows themselves. The stakes are considerable: Visa settles about $15 trillion annually and connects roughly 15,000 financial institutions with more than 200 million merchants, giving it a distribution network that could accelerate institutional use of digital dollars.

Visa on July 16, 2026, unveiled the Visa Stablecoin Platform, or VSP, a managed environment for minting, redeeming, holding and transferring stablecoins. The initial rollout centers on Open Standard’s newly introduced Open USD (OUSD) and interoperates with Visa’s existing stablecoin services, including Circle’s USDC and Paxos’ USDG. VSP also offers Wallet-as-a-Service, dual-approval controls, audit logs and transfer allow lists. Beta access is initially limited to selected clients. Visa already processes several billion dollars in stablecoin settlements and aims to fold those flows into existing payment, treasury and settlement systems.