Key Takeaways
- Visa has increasingly moved to integrate stablecoins into its global payments network.
- But up until now, the card company has left issuance to third parties like Circle.
- However, Visa hasn’t ruled out issuing its own coins.
While Visa has moved to incorporate stablecoins into its global payments business, up until now, the company has stopped short of issuing its own.
But according to Visa insiders cited by Bloomberg, the firm hasn’t ruled the prospect out, and VUSD, or something similar, may still be on the cards.
Disrupting Card Payments
According to one perspective, stablecoins represent the biggest threat to Visa’s business model that the company has ever faced.
Evidence of this view is everywhere.
For example, in July, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire remarked that “stablecoin money is the primary way that transactions happen on the internet.”
While Visa doesn’t disclose the exact percentage of its transaction volume that occurs in-person versus online, a 2022 Federal Reserve study found that remote transactions accounted for 36.2% of all card payments.
If, as Allaire predicts, stablecoins are set to become the default currency of the internet, that could wipe out more than a third of Visa’s transaction fee revenue.
Against this backdrop, the firm piloted USDC integration in 2021. Since then, Visa has expanded its cross-border stablecoin settlement solution to new markets and blockchains.
The company’s top brass has generally stressed this aspect of the technology—stablecoins as a cross-border settlement instrument rather than as an alternative to cards for retail payments.
This vision, where stablecoins and cards coexist in a symbiotic global payments stack, presents opportunities for card schemes and stablecoin issuers alike. But for companies like Visa, this begs the question: why not dominate both layers of the stack?
Why Would Visa Launch a Stablecoin?
Through its USDC integration, Visa has already settled hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stablecoin transactions, providing a major boost to issuer Circle.
If the firm opted to issue its own coin, the company could cut out the middleman and collect reserve revenues from stablecoins used on its network for itself.
Visa’s rival Mastercard has already taken a step in this direction through its participation in Paxos’ Global Dollar Network, which lets participates mint and redeem USDG while sharing revenues.
Banks and major retailers are already exploring similar concepts.
Financial institutions see stablecoins as a way to modernize payment rails without abandoning existing regulatory structures, while large retailers are eyeing them for faster settlements and potentially lower transaction fees.
Diversifying the Market
For now, the stablecoin market is still dominated by the same familiar crypto-native issuers.
But with card networks, banks, fintechs, and even major retailers are all testing their own models, things could change quickly if payment giants like Visa make a move.
For Visa, joining the issuer club would not only create new revenue streams, it could also help protect its market share and cement its position in the global payments ecosystem.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
