Visa: ‘Every Institution That Moves Money Will Need a Stablecoin Strategy’

Key Takeaways

• Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement solution in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region.
• The firm started piloting USDC settlement for cross-border payments in 2021.
• To date, Visa has settled over $225 million in USDC volume for participating clients.

As it looks to establish itself as a key player in the space, Visa announced a major expansion of its stablecoin settlement solution on Wednesday, June 18.

Not so long ago, stablecoins were treated as a threat to Visa’s business model. But the firm is pursuing an “if you can’t beat them, join them” strategy, and now views stablecoins as integral to the future of payments.

Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement

In 2021, Visa began testing how stablecoins could be used inside its treasury operations through a partnership with Crypto.com.

Before the pilot, cross-border payments made with Crypto.com Visa cards were settled the old-fashioned way, via a days-long currency conversion process and costly international wire transfers.

The Crypto.com pilot initially deployed USDC on Ethereum. But Visa has since expanded its solution to Solana and opened it up to other issuers and acquirers.

To date, Visa has settled over $225 million in USDC volume for participating clients, according to Wednesday’s statement.

The latest expansion will bring stablecoin settlement options to new customers in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region.

“In 2025, we believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy,” remarked Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s Senior Vice President for CEMEA.

“As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation, bringing the scale, trust and innovation needed to help build the next generation of global payments,” he added.

Beyond USDC

Alongside the expansion of its USDC-powered cross-border settlement solution, Visa has also partnered with Yellow Card to investigate stablecoin use cases across African markets.

The partnership will explore integrating Yellow Card’s stablecoin rails with Visa’s real-time bank-to-card payment service, Visa Direct.

Because Yellow Card also supports USDT, cUSD, and PYUSD, the collaboration could pave the way for greater integration of coins other than USDC into Visa’s payment infrastructure.

Geographic Factors in Stablecoin Adoption

Visa’s expansion in CEMEA reflects accelerating stablecoin adoption in the region, where traditional financial infrastructure is often underdeveloped and remittances generate significant economic activity.

Moreover, while Visa’s focus is mostly on using stablecoins as a settlement layer to orchestrate cross-currency swaps, in many countries, digital dollars now compete with local currencies for retail payments.

Commenting on the phenomenon recently, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes noted that USDT is fast becoming the preferred means of payment in some developing economies. Or as he put it, “the Global South is banked by Tether.”

In a world where stablecoins power payment flows end-to-end, Visa’s traditional card business would be sidelined.

But alongside Mastercard, the company is also exploring solutions that cut out fiat entirely, helping ensure it still has a role to play in a rapidly evolving payments market.