Visa’s Crypto Chief Targets $2 Trillion Stablecoin Gold Rush

Visa’s crypto division is making a power play—and the $2 trillion stablecoin market is squarely in its crosshairs.

Why settle for fiat rails when you can mint the rails?

The payments giant isn’t just dipping toes anymore. Its digital assets lead sees stablecoins as the Trojan horse for mainstream crypto adoption—never mind that banks still pretend blockchain is a ‘science experiment.’

Here’s the kicker: Visa’s betting its reputation (and a chunk of change) that stablecoins will eat traditional settlement’s lunch. Spoiler: Wall Street’s already sweating.

One cynical footnote? If this works, expect every legacy finance CEO to suddenly ‘disrupt’ themselves—just in time for the next bull run.

Stablecoins Open New Avenues Without Replacing Visa’s Core

Analysts believe stablecoins may not threaten Visa’s Core business so much as open new opportunities. Payments may cost less, but stablecoins still rely on services such as fraud protection, dispute handling, regulation checks, and connections to existing banking systems.

Richard Crone, Chief of Crone Consulting, said, “They are going after the land grab of empowering every possible stablecoin platform with a payment capability.”

Stablecoins have grown quickly, with their market value climbing 62% in the past year to over $270 billion, according to data on DeFiLlama. 

Some forecasts see the market reaching $2 trillion within three years, according to Standard Chartered Bank. Still, they facilitate only about $30 billion of transactions daily, less than 1% of global money flows, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Co.

Visa itself has passed $200 million in total stablecoin settlement volume, supported by its Visa Tokenized Asset Platform and seven-day-a-week settlement service.

Visa’s interest in the sector is driven by strong infrastructure rather than fast disruption. The company sees particular promise in markets where banking is limited. “We don’t really think stablecoins solve much of a problem for retail payments,” Sheffield said. 

“Visa’s data shows that most stablecoin activity today comes from high-value transfers, not everyday spending.” He added, “A stablecoin isn’t even a new currency, really. It’s just another way to represent an existing currency.”

Still, stablecoins could reshape Visa’s business in the long run. Lex Sokolin of Generative Ventures noted, “In the very long run, stablecoins may replace the future opportunities of the legacy Visa business and eventually supplant network operators. But Visa can disrupt itself.”

Visa is already taking steps in that direction. Its Tokenized Asset Platform, launched in 2024, enables banks such as BBVA to issue tokens on public blockchains. The company has also partnered with Bridge to launch stablecoin-linked cards in Latin America and is expanding settlement services across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

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