Visa, Mastercard, Stripe back shared stablecoin network

Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are backing a shared stablecoin platform intended to speed up and lower the cost of cross-border settlement, according to people briefed on the plans. The initiative has not been announced and the companies either declined to comment or did not respond.

The platform is designed to expand stablecoin settlement networks and provide an interoperable layer for onchain transfers that connect to traditional payment rails. It is described as focused on cross-border payments, remittances and business-to-business settlement by using tokenized dollar equivalents to enable near-instant, around-the-clock transfers across jurisdictions.

A U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, has been reported to be exploring participation. Sources did not disclose the full list of participants, the platform’s governance model or technical architecture.

Visa and Stripe already operate a joint card program that uses an orchestration layer acquired by Stripe in 2025. That program allows fintechs and digital wallets to issue branded, stablecoin-backed Visa cards that convert onchain balances at merchant checkout. The card program is live in 18 countries, mainly in Latin America, and the partners plan to expand it to more than 100 countries by year-end 2026.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, commented: “Visa is committed to meeting businesses where they operate, and increasingly, that’s onchain. This milestone gives our partners greater choice in how they move value.” Zach Abrams, chief executive of Bridge, added: “This expansion of our work with Visa will enable businesses launching their own custom stablecoins to use them seamlessly within their card programs.”

Visa’s broader stablecoin settlement pilot has reached roughly $7 billion in annualized volume and now spans nine blockchains, including Base, Polygon, Solana and Ethereum. The company operates a platform for minting, burning and transacting stablecoins at enterprise scale and has pursued tokenization pilots with central banks and large financial institutions.

Mastercard is building stablecoin infrastructure in parallel. In March 2026, the company agreed to acquire BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure provider, in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion pending regulatory approvals. BVNK’s platform operates across more than 130 countries and is intended to connect onchain stablecoin payments with Mastercard’s global fiat rails. Mastercard has also added six new settlement partners supporting USDC, RLUSD and PYUSD and has formed arrangements with crypto firms and payment processors for settlement and payout services.

Stripe has expanded stablecoin services beyond the card program through an Open Issuance platform that lets businesses launch and manage their own stablecoins. Stripe has rolled out stablecoin support in dozens of countries for payment acceptance, payouts and money management accounts and continues to use the orchestration technology acquired with Bridge to connect issuers and wallets.

The total stablecoin market capitalization is near $320 billion, with the largest tokens representing a substantial share. Transaction volumes have risen as more firms and consumers use stablecoins for payments. Timing, governance and technical details for the shared platform were not disclosed. Any broader roll-out would likely depend on regulatory clarity and the completion of corporate transactions that remain subject to approval.