Visa announced that it will begin testing the use of stablecoins for international payments, allowing businesses to fund transactions without pre-depositing cash in local accounts. The initiative reflects the growing integration of digital tokens into mainstream financial systems, particularly after the United States passed the Genius Act, which introduced clear regulatory standards for stablecoin issuers. The law has provided major institutions with the confidence to adopt digital assets for operational use.
Mark Nelsen, head of product for Visa’s commercial and money movement solutions, explained that regulatory clarity was a pivotal factor in advancing adoption. “The Genius Act changed everything. It made everything so much more legitimate. Before that, all the big institutions were sort of on the fence,” he said in an interview with Reuters. With this pilot, Visa is collaborating with select partners and intends to expand the program next year, as it works to make stablecoin-enabled payments more accessible for banks, remittance providers, and other financial institutions.
The new system would allow companies to pre-fund accounts using stablecoins instead of traditional currencies. This reduces the need to maintain reserves across multiple geographies, potentially unlocking capital tied up in local accounts. For global businesses, it offers a more streamlined and flexible alternative to conventional pre-funding requirements. Stablecoins, which are digital tokens pegged to stable assets such as the U.S. dollar or Treasury securities, provide a reliable means of moving money across borders quickly and securely. Their efficiency has raised questions about their impact on the dominance of certain payment providers and regional banks, as they can lower costs and improve liquidity management.
Industry experts view this shift as a turning point in how stablecoins are perceived. Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, noted that these tokens have moved beyond being seen as speculative crypto products. “Stablecoins are moving from crypto gimmick to financial plumbing. It’s one of the reasons we launched an inverse regional bank exchange-traded fund, as I think the regionals are in trouble,” he said, highlighting the risks traditional banking players may face if they fail to adapt. At the same time, Visa’s approach indicates that established financial giants may seek to incorporate rather than compete against stablecoin innovation.
Nelsen emphasized that integrating digital tokens into existing frameworks offers more value than attempting to replace them. “The amount of software and technology that’s been deployed globally for payments is hard to recreate. So it seems more likely to just incorporate stablecoin technology into existing flows,” he said. By using stablecoins within its existing infrastructure, Visa is positioning itself to balance innovation with stability, ensuring it remains central to the evolution of global payments while offering businesses faster and more efficient options for international transactions.
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