Stablecoins are growing, a $320 billion market. But real payments are still in their infancy. Last year, a whopping $33 trillion was processed via stablecoins, but less than 1% of that was actually used for payments. VISA is building a bridge to fill this gap.
Visa has been nominated for Best Stablecoin Infrastructure in the Tokenization & On-Chain Finance category at the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards 2026.
Annual stablecoin settlement rate$4.6 billionCard programs tied to stablecoins130+Countries with issuance activated50+Bridge card rollouts18 countries liveMonthly active stablecoin addresses tracked by Visa47 million
Visa Stablecoin Infrastructure Quick Summary
The nomination reflects how the company has progressed from pilot projects to a broader stablecoin structure in settlements, card issuance, payments, analytics, consulting, and blockchain governance.
Visa is playing a crucial role in the stablecoin market now that it has reached new scale. Although its capitalization has reached $320 billion, the activity is largely institutional.
Visa's own analysis shows that only a small proportion of adjusted stablecoin volume comes from transfers under $250.
This gap explains Visa’s strategy. The company doesn’t treat stablecoins as a niche product within crypto. They see them as new payment systems and infrastructure for treasury departments.
“We are still in the very early stages of stablecoin adoption. Even with $33 trillion in volume, only about 1% is tied to real payment usage. From Visa’s perspective, stablecoins are a new type of money. We are focused on how they can improve money flows, especially via cards linked to stablecoins, where the card becomes the bridge between digital assets and everyday spending,” said Andranik Mnatsakanyan, EU Stablecoin Practice Lead at Visa.
Making blockchain money available for consumption
By the start of 2026, Visa’s global stablecoin settlement activity had reached an annual rate of approximately $4.6 billion. The company now supports more than 130 card programs associated with stablecoins across over 50 countries.
The core development started with settlement via USDC and has since evolved into a broader operating model. US issuers and acquiring banks can settle their obligations with Visa on the blockchain, including via Solana, with support from early adopters such as Cross River Bank and Lead Bank.
This has allowed stablecoins to be more deeply embedded in Visa’s existing network. Instead of being separate from traditional payments, they are now directly connected to the systems that issuers and fintechs already use.
Visa’s stablecoin card strategy is particularly important because it solves a practical problem. Stablecoins can move quickly on the blockchain, but users still need a way to use them in their daily lives.
“The card becomes the bridge. This is where your crypto, when you add it to your wallet, actually becomes funds you can spend anywhere,” says Visa’s EU Stablecoin Practice Lead.
This logic now underlies Visa's partnership with Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure platform owned by Stripe.
By March 2026, Bridge-powered Visa cards were live in 18 countries, with plans to expand to more than 100 by the end of the year.
Building the infrastructure behind consumption
Visa's stablecoin work now goes far beyond cards.
In late 2025, the company launched a pilot project that allows businesses using Visa Direct to send payments where the recipient can choose to receive them in USDC.
The product can be used for, for example, payments to content creators, freelancers and cross-border payments where speed and dollar stability are important.
At the same time, Visa Consulting & Analytics launched a Stablecoins Advisory Practice to help banks, fintechs, and merchants with issuance, custody, and treasury strategies, demonstrating that the company sees stablecoins as an infrastructure shift—not just a product feature.
Visa has also moved into the governance layer. In March 2026, they were elected as a Super Validator on the Canton Network, a privacy-focused institutional blockchain used by leading financial institutions. Visa was given the heaviest governance weight of 10, giving it real influence over upgrades and the direction of the network.
A bet on the next step for cash flow
Visa has also built infrastructure for bank-issued tokens through the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform, or VTAP. The platform allows banks to issue, burn, and manage their own stablecoins and tokenized monetary products.
This is why Visa excels in this category. They have built the entire chain: settlements, cards, payments, advisory services, validator roles, analytics, and token issuance tools.
The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards recognize companies that are building the systems that can define the next era of finance. Visa’s nomination reflects their role in transforming stablecoins from a crypto asset into usable financial infrastructure.