Visa’s Crypto Chief Predicts Hybrid Future: Traditional + Crypto Payments as Stablecoin Market Soars to $269B
Money’s getting a blockchain facelift—and even the suits are onboard.
Visa’s crypto head just dropped a truth bomb: the future of finance isn’t crypto versus banks. It’s crypto with banks. Meanwhile, stablecoins quietly built a $269 billion war chest—because nothing says ‘trust’ like pegging your magic internet money to the dollar.
The new rules of the game:
- Hybrid or die: Legacy rails and decentralized networks are merging. Your grandma’s pension might soon settle via USDC.
- Stablecoins eat the world: That $269B market cap? Just collateral waiting to turbocharge DeFi—or bail out another crypto hedge fund’s leveraged bets.
- Visa plays both sides: The card giant’s crypto division isn’t fighting disruption—it’s hedging like a Wall Street quant.
One cynical footnote: Watch how fast ‘partnerships’ turn into acquisitions when regulators finish their coffee.
Payment Giants Race to Capture Growing Stablecoin Market
The stablecoin sector achieved another milestone in July with total market capitalization reaching $261 billion, extending twenty-two consecutive months of growth.
However, as of Aug 12, the stablecoin total market cap has grown to $271B with over $2.6B added in the past week alone, according to data from DefiLlama.
Tether maintains leadership with $164 billion market cap, while USD Coin reached $63.6 billion, and Ethena USDe posted a remarkable 43.5% growth to $7.60 billion.
The GENIUS Act’s passage in July established federal regulations for payment stablecoins, mandating full 1:1 backing by cash or liquid US Treasuries with monthly reserve disclosures.
The legislation sparked corporate interest, with Western Union, Interactive Brokers, and Remitly exploring stablecoin integration for payment modernization.
Notably, Visa has partnered with Yellow Card Financial to bring stablecoin payments across 20 African countries, while Circle partnered with Onafriq, Africa’s largest payments network spanning 500 wallets and 200 million bank accounts.
Over 80% of intra-African transactions currently route through overseas correspondent banks, generating $5 billion in annual fees.
Similarly, Mastercard announced a partnership with Chainlink, allowing over 3 billion cardholders to purchase crypto directly on-chain through secure fiat-to-crypto conversion.
The collaboration leverages Chainlink’s interoperability infrastructure and Mastercard’s global payments network to power the Swapper Finance platform.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser has also revealed the bank is considering launching its own stablecoin as part of a broader tokenized finance push.
The bank projects stablecoin market capitalization could rise from $260 billion today to over $2 trillion by 2030, with base-case scenarios hitting $1.6 trillion.
Traditional Finance Embraces Blockchain Infrastructure Revolution
The growing stablecoin market has been drawing many traditional payment and fintech giants to find their feet in the market and bring crypto adoption to millions globally.
Just today, a report covered by Cryptnew reveals Stripe’s “Tempo,” a high-performance LAYER 1 blockchain focused on payments.
Payment giant Stripe is building 'Tempo' blockchain with crypto VC Paradigm targeting Fortune 500 companies following $1.1B Bridge acquisition and Privy purchase.#Stripe #Blockchainhttps://t.co/GdVktNhRoy
This development WOULD represent the most ambitious crypto initiative from traditional payment processors if implemented.
The Ethereum-compatible blockchain, which is speculated to be built in partnership with Paradigm, would control server layers processing stablecoin transactions.
The $92 billion company has executed a methodical acquisition strategy, purchasing stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion and crypto wallet developer Privy.
Stripe has launched stablecoin payments across 70 countries and introduced Stablecoin Financial Accounts, enabling companies in 101 countries to hold and transact digital dollars.
Notably, MetaMask is also planning to launch “MetaMask USD” through a partnership with Stripe’s payment infrastructure, leveraging its 30 million monthly active users to challenge USDC dominance.
The proposal outlines building the stablecoin with Stripe, providing regulatory clarity and fiat backing.
Despite growth momentum, JPMorgan cast doubt on bullish projections, predicting stablecoins will only reach $500 billion by 2028.
The bank pointed to weak mainstream adoption and limited use beyond crypto trading, estimating just 6% of stablecoin demand comes from actual payment activity.
However, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller acknowledged that 99% of stablecoin market capitalization links to the US dollar, believing “stablecoins can keep the dollar the world’s reserve currency” by increasing global accessibility.
Currently, over 20 million addresses now transact stablecoins on public blockchains as adoption accelerates across major sectors.
