Visa launched USDC stablecoin settlement in the United States on December 16, 2025, with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank as initial banking participants. Settlement occurs on the Solana blockchain, enabling 7-day availability that bypasses traditional banking hours.
Scale and Scope
Visa now supports four stablecoins (USDC, USDG, PYUSD, EURC) across four blockchains (Solana, Ethereum, Stellar, Avalanche). Monthly stablecoin settlement volume reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate as of November 2025, with 130+ stablecoin-linked card programmes in over 40 countries.
Bridge Partnership
In March 2026, Visa expanded its stablecoin card programme through a partnership with Bridge (a Stripe subsidiary), planning stablecoin-linked Visa card issuance in 100+ countries. Crypto platforms including Phantom and MetaMask are using Bridge's infrastructure to offer stablecoin-backed Visa cards that can be used at 175+ million merchant locations.
What This Means
Visa is building a parallel settlement layer alongside its legacy bank-to-bank infrastructure. For issuing banks, stablecoin settlement offers faster finality, reduced counterparty risk, and weekend/holiday availability. The competitive dynamic is notable: Mastercard announced a similar stablecoin settlement partnership with SoFi in March 2026, confirming that both major card networks view blockchain settlement as a strategic priority.