Visa's Stablecoin Strategy

Want to bypass Visa with stablecoins? It turns out they are more dependent on it than ever.

Written by: @Jun__Yoo

Compiled by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

Many initially believed that with the rise of stablecoins, card organizations like Visa and Mastercard would be completely marginalized. Stablecoins allow for peer-to-peer transfers, operating 24/7, seemingly eliminating the need for intermediaries.

However, reality has taken a contrary turn.

New money designed to "bypass existing payment networks" is actually circulating faster through these traditional channels.

On August 4, Cuy Sheffield, head of Visa's crypto business, clearly articulated Visa's logic on Bloomberg Crypto: Visa does not view stablecoins merely as competitors but rather as a new financial infrastructure. For banks, procuring this infrastructure independently is challenging, and the actual scenarios where it can be utilized are insufficient. Visa aims to fill both of these gaps.

Sheffield's statement directly points out what Visa truly wants to sell in the stablecoin ecosystem.

Visa aims to provide banks with "one-stop" stablecoin infrastructure and consulting services

Almost every bank now realizes the necessity of having a stablecoin strategy. However, the vast majority of traditional financial institutions still struggle to determine which scenarios to focus on and what infrastructure to build.

Visa's answer is the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP).

VSP covers the entire process: wallet creation, Open USD issuance and redemption, custody, and transfers. Additionally, with the Visa Consulting and Analytics team (VCA), it provides market analysis, use case selection, economic feasibility assessments, sandbox testing, and launch support. The infrastructure and consulting are packaged into a complete service.

VSP is still in the testing phase, but the direction is already very clear: to provide banks with a one-stop on-chain solution.

Visa already has advantages in "procurement" and "trust"

Banks hesitate to go on-chain because they need to evaluate a host of unfamiliar crypto service providers and must pass through internal risk control committees, with regulatory and control requirements that cannot be overlooked.

For banks, procuring a complete solution from a long-term, highly trusted partner is far more convenient and less risky than piecing together wallets, custody, compliance, and clearing from multiple vendors.

From this perspective, VSP is almost one of the shortest and lowest-risk paths for banks to enter the on-chain world.

There are also many companies in the market promoting their own packaged solutions. What can Visa position as its core selling point? Its established position in traditional finance is already solid. More importantly, it must prove that it has actual influence and results in the blockchain space.

Data from the crypto card business provides Visa with the confidence to speak to banks.

Crypto Cards: The Key Proof of Stablecoin Spending

The logic of crypto cards is simple: connect the cryptocurrencies or stablecoins in users' wallets to the existing card network, allowing them to spend directly in everyday scenarios.

When users swipe their cards, the operator checks the balance, locks the amount, and then goes through the existing card network for authorization. Merchants do not need to build a separate crypto system, and users can spend their on-chain assets using familiar payment methods.

According to Paymentscan data, the cumulative transaction volume of crypto cards has exceeded $11 billion. Among them, Visa accounts for 96.8% of the card network transaction volume, almost an absolute dominance in this market.

In the past 30 days, 17 out of the 20 crypto card issuers with the highest transaction volume have been supported by Visa. The leading advantage is very clear.

This structure itself indicates that on-chain clearing can completely coexist with existing payment tracks. For conservative banks, crypto cards serve as a ready-made proof of concept—on-chain infrastructure is already stable and sufficiently scaled. It may further solidify Visa's position in the stablecoin clearing market.

The Stablecoin Ecosystem Visa Truly Wants to Build

Simplifying Visa's overall strategy boils down to two actions:

• Provide banks with a single procurement entry point, along with accompanying regulatory and control modules;
• Open up a global card acceptance network centered on stablecoin payments for fintech companies.

Visa's layout in "agentic commerce" is also worth noting. Its Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP) could potentially connect stablecoins with payment protocols based on HTTP 402 (such as x402, MPP). This has already become part of Visa's future payment strategy.

The market is still in its early stages. However, Visa has firmly controlled the existing card network and holds an absolute dominant share in the crypto card market. These positions provide it with multiple paths to extend along the stablecoin value chain.

In the coming year, Visa must convert the growing institutional demand into tangible products and actual payment flows. Whether it can achieve this will determine whether it can build a sufficiently deep moat in the era of stablecoins.