Global payments giant Visa is set to offer support for four stablecoins across four “unique blockchains,” as the company seeks to ramp up its cryptocurrency services.
Visa CEO Ryan McInerney told investors on the company's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call on Tuesday that the company will continue to expand its stablecoin offerings amid strong growth over the past fiscal year.
“We are adding support for four stablecoins running on four unique blockchains, representing two currencies that we can accept and convert to over 25 traditional fiat currencies.”
McInerney did not share details about the stablecoins and networks that Visa will support, but the move will enhance the list of networks and stablecoins supported by the company.
Visa already supports stablecoins, including Circle's USDC (USDC) and Euro Coin (EURC), along with PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Global Dollar (USDG), on the Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and Avalanche blockchains.
The company sees “particular momentum in stablecoins,” McInerney said, noting $140 billion worth of crypto and softcoin inflows since 2020.
Regarding growth, he said that global consumer spending within Visa’s stablecoin-linked card services increased four-fold during the fourth quarter, compared to the same quarter last year.
“We have expanded the number of stablecoins and blockchains available for settlement, and monthly volume has now exceeded an annual run rate of $2.5 billion,” he added.
Visa is doubling down on stable banking
McInerney suggested that Visa's main focus areas will be expanding stablecoin offerings to banks and other traditional financial institutions, and facilitating more cross-border transactions, noting that “there is a lot more to come in this area.”
Related to: Stablecoins Become a 'Global Macroeconomic Powerhouse' as Transactions Reach $46 Trillion: Report
The process began in late September with the Visa Direct pilot program that enables banks and financial institutions to pre-fund cross-border payments using USDC and EURC.
The next phase, according to McInerney, will be to further enhance and invest in its solutions layer, enabling the company to offer more features to its customers and partners, a concrete example of which is minting and burning stablecoins.
“We have begun enabling banks to mint and burn their own stablecoins using Visa’s tokenized asset platform, and are adding stablecoin capabilities to enhance the cross-border movement of funds with Visa Direct.”
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