Visa Strengthens Stablecoin Infrastructure with Expansion to Five Additional Blockchains

Visa has revealed that it is integrating five additional blockchains into its global stablecoin settlement pilot program, significantly broadening the way issuers and acquirers can complete settlements across its network. As stablecoins continue to gain traction in mainstream payment systems, the pilot has now expanded to support nine blockchains and reached an annualized settlement volume of approximately $7 billion, representing a 50% increase compared to the previous quarter.

According to Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships at Visa, the shift reflects how partners are increasingly operating in a multi-chain environment. He explained that expanding the pilot across more blockchains allows participants to select the networks that best suit their needs, while still relying on Visa as a unified settlement layer across all ecosystems.

Newly Added Blockchains in Visa’s Settlement Program

Five Blockchain Integrations Strengthen Multi-Chain Infrastructure

• Visa’s latest update includes support for five new blockchain networks, further enhancing its ability to operate across a diverse blockchain landscape:

• Arc: An open Layer-1 blockchain developed by Circle, designed to combine programmable money with real-world economic applications and onchain innovation.

• Base: A high-performance blockchain backed by Coinbase, optimized for fast and low-cost settlement of stablecoins, digital assets, and agent-driven commerce.

• Canton: A privacy-focused blockchain tailored for regulated financial markets, enabling compliant settlement solutions for institutional users.

• Polygon: A widely adopted blockchain payment infrastructure offering fast transactions, low fees, and scalable throughput for global digital commerce.

• Tempo: A network focused on efficient, private, and high-speed movement of stablecoin liquidity and settlement flows.

With these additions, Visa’s pilot now spans nine blockchain networks, complementing its existing integrations with Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar, and offering partners greater flexibility in how they operate across ecosystems.

Stablecoins Move from Experimentation to Global Infrastructure

Over the past year, stablecoins have evolved from an emerging innovation into a practical mechanism for global money movement. Visa’s settlement pilots have played a key role in helping partners streamline cross-border and digital payment operations.

This expansion builds on years of regional initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the CEMEA region, along with the growing adoption of USDC settlements by U.S. banks and more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs across over 50 countries.

The transition to supporting nine blockchains reflects a broader industry shift where liquidity and transaction activity are now distributed across multiple networks, requiring more flexible and adaptive settlement infrastructure.

Visa Focuses on Unified Global Settlement Layer

Visa’s strategy is increasingly centered on interoperability, aiming to connect multiple blockchain ecosystems under a unified settlement framework. By supporting a wide range of blockchains, the company enables partners to access liquidity more efficiently while reducing operational complexity.

The reported $7 billion annualized run rate signals growing confidence from banks, fintech companies, and payment providers in blockchain-based settlement systems. Stablecoin infrastructure is steadily emerging as a complementary alternative to traditional payment rails rather than a replacement.

As adoption accelerates, Visa continues to position itself as a bridge between legacy financial systems and blockchain-based infrastructure, ensuring both operate under consistent standards of security, reliability, and scalability.

Perspectives from Ecosystem Partners

Ecosystem participants broadly underscored the importance of Visa’s expansion across multiple blockchains, with Circle highlighting that Arc is built to enable real-time global settlement with consistent performance and reliable liquidity access, aligning with the growing demand for USDC-based infrastructure.

Base described Visa’s move as a crucial step toward turning onchain payments into a mainstream standard accessible to billions of users worldwide, while Canton Network emphasized that its architecture is designed for regulated institutions and that Visa acts as a bridge facilitating compliant onchain settlement adoption. Similarly, Polygon Labs noted that the combination of Visa’s global network and Polygon’s low-cost infrastructure significantly improves the practicality and scalability of stablecoin payments, and Tempo added that Visa’s dual role as both validator and settlement partner helps accelerate the transition toward real-time, programmable payments becoming part of the financial mainstream.

Visa’s expansion into a broader multi-chain settlement framework reflects a structural shift in how global financial infrastructure is being redesigned. Rather than relying on a single blockchain ecosystem, the industry is moving toward a fragmented yet interoperable environment where liquidity, compliance, and settlement must function seamlessly across multiple networks.

In this context, Visa is not simply adopting blockchain technology, it is actively shaping the abstraction layer that connects traditional finance with decentralized systems. This approach suggests that the future of payments will not be defined by which blockchain dominates, but by which platforms can best unify them into a coherent, scalable financial network.