Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are reportedly collaborating on a new platform for a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency, to make international payments faster and cheaper. This information comes from a report published Wednesday by Coindesk, based on sources familiar with the project.
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Key Takeaways:
- Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are reportedly backing a new joint stablecoin platform, per a June 3 Coindesk report.
- Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot has reached $7B in annualized volume, with cards live in 18 countries and expanding to 100-plus by end of 2026.
- Mastercard’s $1.8B BVNK deal and six new USDC, RLUSD, and PYUSD settlement partners signal accelerating infrastructure investment in H1 2026.
Payments Giants Eye Shared Stablecoin Infrastructure
The platform, which has not been officially announced and carries no confirmed name, would bring together the three payments companies to expand stablecoin settlement networks. The report by Ian Allison notes that U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase is also reportedly exploring participation. Allison remarked that all the companies either declined to comment or had not responded by publication time.
The news arrives as Mastercard separately expands its global settlement network to include six new partners across USDC, RLUSD, and PYUSD, a move that signals the company is building stablecoin reach on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Visa and Stripe Already Running Together
The clearest active collaboration between these firms is the Visa-Bridge stablecoin card issuing program. Bridge, acquired by Stripe in February 2025 for approximately $1.1 billion, provides the stablecoin orchestration layer.
Fintech companies and digital wallets can now offer their own Visa cards backed by stablecoins using a streamlined Bridge API. This allows customers to easily spend their USDC balances at over 175 million Visa locations globally.
Our program is currently running in 18 countries, primarily in Latin America – we’re seeing good traction in places like Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. We’re really excited about growth, and we’re planning to expand to over 100 countries – across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East – before the end of the year.
In March, Visa’s Head of Crypto, Cuy Sheffield, stated:
Visa is dedicated to supporting businesses in the ways they prefer, and more and more, that means using blockchain technology. This new development offers our partners more flexibility in how they handle payments.
Bridge CEO Zach Abrams added: “This expansion of our work with Visa will enable businesses launching their own custom stablecoins to use them seamlessly within their card programs.”
Popular wallets such as Phantom and Metamask, and financial companies like Ramp and Airtm, are all utilizing this system.
Visa’s Stablecoin Volume Reaches $7B Annualized
Visa’s broader stablecoin settlement pilot has grown to approximately $7 billion in annualized volume and now spans nine blockchains, including Base, Polygon, Solana, and Ethereum. The company also operates the Visa Stablecoin Platform for minting, burning, and transacting stablecoins with enterprise-level performance.
Just recently, Visa took a strategic stake in Replit while simultaneously exploring tokenization initiatives alongside the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), several central banks, JPMorgan, UBS Group, Deutsche Bank, and Mastercard.
Mastercard’s $1.8B BVNK Acquisition
On March 17, 2026, Mastercard announced a definitive agreement to acquire BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure company, for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments. The deal is expected to close by year-end pending regulatory approvals.
BVNK’s platform operates across 130-plus countries and is intended to connect onchain stablecoin payments with Mastercard’s global fiat rails, supporting cross-border payments, remittances, B2B transactions, and 24/7 settlement. Mastercard has also partnered with OKX, Nuvei, and Thunes for stablecoin transactions and payout capabilities.
Stripe Builds on Bridge for Stablecoin Reach
Beyond the Visa card program, Stripe is using Bridge to power its Open Issuance platform, which lets businesses launch and manage their own stablecoins. Stripe has expanded stablecoin support across dozens of countries for payment acceptance, payouts, and money management accounts.
Market Backdrop
The total stablecoin market cap stands near $320 billion, according to defillama.com stats, with Tether’s USDT at roughly $187.81 billion and USDC at approximately $76 billion. Transaction volumes across the sector have climbed as more institutions and consumers treat stablecoins as a working payments layer rather than a speculative asset.
A more favorable U.S. regulatory environment and the growing overlap between stablecoins and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven commerce are pushing traditional payments firms to move from pilots to scaled infrastructure.
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2026-06-03 18:57