Visa launches stablecoin platform for banks and fintechs

Visa has launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, a new enterprise service for banks, fintechs and payment providers that lets them issue, hold and transfer stablecoins through Visa’s network while connecting those functions to existing payment, settlement and treasury workflows. The platform combines stablecoin minting and redemption, wallet infrastructure, treasury management, fund transfers, transaction approval controls and audit logs in a single system. Visa said the service is entering beta with select customers before a wider rollout. It is aimed at about 15,000 financial institutions and more than 200 million merchants and initially supports OpenUSD, or OUSD, alongside Circle’s USDC and Paxos’ USDG. Jack Forestell, Visa Chief Product and Strategy Officer, said the goal is to give institutions one place to "mint, move, and manage stablecoin operations" with enterprise controls and security. The rollout extends Visa’s broader push to make stablecoins part of mainstream financial infrastructure, following research it published in October, its March move to join the Canton Network as a Super Validator, and an April expansion of its stablecoin settlement program to nine blockchain networks. Separately, Crypto.com received a $400 million investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation, while JPMorgan said Strategy’s higher cash reserves and positive bitcoin futures flows are constructive for bitcoin.