Visa is moving deeper into crypto payments. The card giant has struck a strategic partnership with stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to enable stablecoin transactions on Visa Direct, the company’s $1.7 trillion real-time global payouts platform, the firms said in a Wednesday press release. Visa — the world’s second-largest card network after China’s UnionPay and the largest outside China, handling roughly 50% of global card payments — has been testing digital-asset rails for some time. In 2025 the company ran multiple stablecoin pilots on Visa Direct as part of a broader effort to modernize cross-border and instant money movement. BVNK, which processes over $30 billion in payments annually, will now power selected Visa Direct services, including stablecoin pre-funding and payouts, beginning in markets with high demand for digital payments. “Stablecoins are an exciting opportunity for global payments, with enormous potential to reduce friction and expand access to faster, more efficient payment options — including during weekends, holidays and when banks are closed,” said Mark Nelsen, Visa’s head of product, commercial and money movement. The deal builds on an existing relationship: Visa Ventures invested in BVNK in May 2025. Jesse Hemson-Struthers, BVNK’s CEO, framed the collaboration as a bet on stablecoins not just as a payment method but as a foundational payments layer that can accelerate settlement and accessibility. Visa and BVNK plan a phased rollout, starting in regions where customer demand for digital rails is strongest. A wider global expansion is planned but no specific markets have been confirmed; Visa says it will prioritize expansion based on “customer needs.” The partnership comes amid surging stablecoin activity and growing regulatory attention. Legislative momentum in 2025 included the signing of the GENIUS Act in the U.S., and Bloomberg reported that total stablecoin transaction volume jumped 72% year-over-year to $33 trillion in 2025 — a new record. Within that market, Circle’s USDC led transaction volumes with $18.3 trillion, while Tether’s USDT, though larger by market capitalization, accounted for $13.3 trillion. Together the two dominated last year’s activity, leaving other dollar-pegged and non-USD stablecoins with relatively small shares. Market color: at the time of writing, Bitcoin traded around $95,000, up more than 3% over the past week. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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