Payments Giants Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe Back Stablecoin Platform for Faster Payments – Bitcoin News

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.

Fintechs and wallets use a single Bridge API to issue branded stablecoin-backed Visa cards, letting cardholders spend USDC balances at any of Visa’s 175 million-plus merchant locations worldwide.

As of March 2026, the program is live in 18 countries, with a focus on Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. Visa and Bridge plan to expand to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East by year-end.

In March, Visa’s Head of Crypto, Cuy Sheffield, stated:

“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.”

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.”

Wallets including Phantom and Metamask, along with fintechs like Ramp and Airtm, are among the participants using the infrastructure.

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.