Key points
- Visa on Thursday introduced the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP), a brand-new platform that allows banks, fintechs, and cryptocurrency companies to mint, transfer, and manage stablecoins in a single Visa-managed environment.
- The new platform comes with various features, including stablecoin-linked cards, efficient cross-border payments via Visa Direct, and many more.
- In the initial phase, VSP integrated the newly launched Open Standard and Open USD (OUSD) stablecoins.
On July 16, Visa, a leading payment network, announced the launch of the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP), a brand-new platform that allows banks, fintechs, and cryptocurrency companies to mint, transfer, and manage stablecoins in a single Visa-managed environment.
Visa launches new stablecoin platform with open USD support
According to the visa Official pageVisa Stablecoin Platform (VSP) is the platform that allows users to store, access, mint and manage their stablecoins in a secure environment. The platform has also integrated other existing Visa tools in order to integrate stablecoin capabilities into existing payment flows.
“The VSP is interoperable with Visa’s existing stablecoin offerings, including stablecoin settlement, stablecoin-linked cards, and stablecoin fund movement. Together, these capabilities provide a full suite of solutions that help financial institutions and fintech companies join the chain and enable cryptocurrency platforms to access Visa’s global network,” the official press release said.
There are many features mentioned about the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP) in the official announcement.
Users will be able to use Stablecoin-linked cards that allow users to spend stablecoin balances directly at millions of merchants around the world through the large Visa network.
On the Visa Stablecoin platform, users will be able to move funds cross-border using Visa Direct across fiat and stablecoin systems.
The platform comes with secure storage and issuance options with robust compliance and security features.
In the initial phase, the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP) integrated the newly launched Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin launched by Open Standard. Open USD is designed to make stablecoins practical for real-world payments.
Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer at Visa, said in a press release, “Stablecoins open up a new layer of programmable money, but the hard part for most institutions is not the concept, but the operational reality. With the Visa Stablecoin platform, we are giving our customers one place to mint, transfer and manage stablecoin transactions with the controls, security and network access they already expect from Visa. It’s how we help them turn interest in stablecoins into real products and real payment flows.”
In the past few months, Visa has aggressively expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities by supporting more blockchains and assets such as stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. In beta testing, the payment network has already recorded significant annual settlement volumes.
However, as of now, Visa is only available for beta testing.
Visa and Mastercard expand support for stablecoin payments
Visa and Mastercard have recently made several major announcements regarding their efforts to integrate digital assets. This follows advances in key regulatory frameworks, such as the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act. By doing this, Visa and Mastercard want to make cross-border payments more efficient by reducing costs as well as settlement time. This integration would enhance cross-border remittances, remittances and settlements.
Mastercard is also expanding its stablecoin settlement capability, including partnerships for end-to-end payments from wallets to merchant checkouts. In June, MasterCard raised It supports Open USD (OUSD) alongside a major consortium of over 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase and others.
In March, Visa & Bridge announced A partnership that is expected to roll out stablecoin-backed Visa cards to more than 100 countries by the end of 2026.
There have been several collaborative efforts in the past few months, including cross-platforms backed by companies like Stripe and Coinbase. These major payment networks are directly challenging the current stablecoin leaders, such as USDT and USDC. By using their own merchant networks, these payment networks are also promoting the adoption of stablecoins.
In 2025, US President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into the first federal law for stablecoins. This has encouraged many companies and institutions to integrate stablecoins into their existing financial infrastructure. As a result, the total market capitalization of stablecoins has also risen to more than $320 billion this year. However, amid the downtrend in the cryptocurrency market, it has seen a decline and is currently worth around $310 billion, according to DeFiLlama.
