The global payments leader Visa is preparing to introduce support for four stablecoins across four distinct blockchains, as the company aims to enhance its crypto services.
Visa’s CEO Ryan McInerney informed investors during the company’s fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call on Tuesday that Visa will keep expanding its stablecoin offerings following substantial growth in the past financial year.
“We are incorporating support for four stablecoins operating on four distinct blockchains, covering two currencies that we can accept and convert to over 25 traditional fiat currencies.”
McInerney did not disclose specifics about the stablecoins and networks Visa will support, but this initiative will enhance the company’s roster of networks and stablecoins.
Visa already supports stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC (USDC) and Euro Coin (EURC), along with PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Global Dollar (USDG), across the Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and Avalanche blockchains.
McInerney remarked that the firm has observed “notable momentum with stablecoins,” highlighting $140 billion worth of facilitated crypto and stablecoin transactions since 2020.
Concerning growth, he noted that global consumer spending within Visa’s stablecoin-linked card services surged fourfold in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year.
“We have broadened the array of stablecoins and blockchains available for settlement, and monthly volume has now exceeded a $2.5 billion annualized run rate,” he added.
Visa intensifies focus on stablecoin banking
McInerney indicated that Visa’s key priorities include expanding its stablecoin offerings for banks and other traditional financial institutions, as well as facilitating additional cross-border transactions, stating, “there is much more to come in this area.”
Related: Stablecoins become ‘global macroeconomic force’ as transactions reach $46T: Report
The initiative commenced in late September through a Visa Direct pilot program allowing banks and financial institutions to pre-fund cross-border payments with USDC and EURC.
According to McInerney, the next phase will involve further enhancing and investing in its solutions layer, allowing the company to offer more features to its clients and partners, with a specific example being the minting and burning of stablecoins.
“We are beginning to enable banks to mint and burn their own stablecoins using the Visa tokenized asset platform, and we are incorporating stablecoin capabilities to improve cross-border money movement with Visa Direct.”
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