Visa Brings Onchain Credit to Stablecoin Card Settlement

The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched BLOOM — Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency — on Oct. 16, 2025, building on its Project Orchid work on digital money infrastructure. The initiative is designed to connect conventional payment systems with tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoin rails. The effort matters because cross-border settlement still depends heavily on banking hours, business-day calendars and intermediary networks, creating delays and liquidity costs for financial institutions.

Visa said on Aug. 25, 2026, that it had joined BLOOM and selected cross-border payments company Nium as its first partner for a stablecoin settlement pilot. The companies will test settlement seven days a week, including weekends and public holidays, using regulated stablecoins denominated in major currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro. Visa said the arrangement could reduce delays and give participating institutions faster access to funds. No transaction value, specific stablecoin, payment corridor, launch schedule or completion date was disclosed.

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 cross-border payments, treasury management and round-the-clock settlement, pushing card networks to define their role in onchain finance. Visa is positioning itself as an interoperability layer rather than a stablecoin issuer, linking fiat money, blockchains, wallets and its global merchant network. The strategy matters because preserving Visa’s network effects and service revenue will depend on remaining essential as payment infrastructure becomes programmable.

On July 28, 2026, Chief Executive Ryan McInerney told Visa’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call that the company had invested across blockchain, wallet and infrastructure layers, saying its role was “not to pick winners.” Visa joined Open Standard and on July 16 launched a platform initially supporting Open USD. It plans to connect Pismo for tokenized deposits and AI-driven commerce. Visa’s settlement pilot spans nine blockchains and was running at an annualized $7 billion, up 50% quarter on quarter.

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.

Visa has tested stablecoin settlement using USDC on Ethereum since 2021, allowing issuers and acquirers to settle VisaNet obligations over blockchain networks. The model could overcome the constraints of banking hours and cross-border transfers, providing a supplementary settlement channel for traditional payment networks.

Visa said on April 29, 2026, that it had added Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon and Tempo. Together with Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana and Stellar, the additions brought the number of supported networks to nine. Its annualized settlement run rate reached $7 billion, up 50% quarter on quarter. On June 4, Visa also began testing privacy-controlled institutional settlement on Canton with Brale using the US dollar stablecoin SBC.

Stablecoins can move quickly onchain, but users still need regulated accounts, card issuance and merchant networks for everyday purchases and cross-border payments. Visa is therefore partnering with WeFi, co-founded by Tether co-founder Reeve Collins, to connect DeFi with traditional payments infrastructure and target underbanked populations worldwide.

Visa and WeFi announced the partnership on April 28, 2026. They plan to offer onchain accounts with IBANs and stablecoin payment services, initially rolling them out region by region in selected markets across Europe, Asia and Latin America. The companies did not disclose the value of the partnership or an exact launch date. Further expansion will depend on local regulatory approvals, licensing and card-issuing partners.

Tempo is a Layer 1 blockchain launched by Stripe and Paradigm in September 2025 for real-time stablecoin payments and AI agent commerce. It raised $500 million in a Series A round the following October at a $5 billion valuation. Visa's move from using onchain settlement to operating an underlying network node itself marks more direct involvement by a traditional card network in payment infrastructure.

Visa announced on April 14, 2026, that its Tempo validator node was live after six months of collaboration with Tempo's engineering team. Independently configured and managed on Visa's own infrastructure, the node orders and confirms transactions and helps secure the network. Visa, Stripe and Standard Chartered Group's Zodia Custody are among the first external validators. No investment amount was disclosed for the partnership.

Stablecoins maintain their value through fiat-backed assets and can reduce the time and cost of cross-border transfers, but everyday spending requires connections to card issuance, settlement and merchant networks. Stripe completed its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in February 2025. Visa's partnership with the infrastructure platform effectively connects onchain funds to the global card-payment system.

Visa announced an expanded partnership with Bridge on March 3, 2026. Stablecoin-linked cards are already operating in 18 countries and are expected to expand to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East by the end of 2026. Bridge has also joined Visa's onchain settlement pilot through Lead Bank, allowing Phantom and MetaMask users to spend stablecoins directly on everyday purchases.