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Visa and Mastercard Build Stablecoin Rails Into Card Networks
28 Jul 2026, 10:05
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Visa's stablecoin settlement has scaled to a $7 billion annualized run rate as card networks position themselves as the connective layer for digital dollars.
Visa's stablecoin settlement business has grown from a single pilot with Crypto.com in 2021 into a $7 billion annualized run rate spanning nine different blockchains as of April 2026, one of the clearest signs yet that major card networks see stablecoins as core infrastructure rather than a passing trend. Mastercard has moved in parallel, now supporting settlement in USDC, PYUSD and RLUSD, with intraday and weekend settlement cycles announced in June to give merchants faster access to funds than traditional card rails typically allow.
Rather than positioning themselves as stablecoin issuers, Visa and Mastercard are building out infrastructure to serve as the connective layer between stablecoin wallets and the existing global payments system, a strategy designed to keep their networks essential to merchants and consumers even as more value moves through digital-dollar rails. PayPal has taken a somewhat different approach, issuing its own stablecoin, PYUSD, and embedding it directly inside its existing consumer and merchant network to build what amounts to a closed-loop stablecoin payment system running alongside traditional card infrastructure.
The competitive dynamics have also produced new alliances. Stripe, Visa and Mastercard are reportedly building a joint stablecoin platform, according to reporting in early June, while a separate initiative called Open USD has brought together Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Circle, Coinbase and BlackRock around shared stablecoin payment infrastructure. The scale of that collaboration underscores how central stablecoins have become to the payments industry's planning, even among companies that compete directly in other parts of their business.
Underlying all of this is a consumer-facing trend that has been building for several years: crypto and stablecoin card spending has grown from roughly $100 million a month in early 2023 to more than $1.5 billion by late 2025, a compound annual growth rate above 100%. As card networks race to build the rails connecting stablecoins to everyday commerce, that spending trajectory suggests the infrastructure investment is being made well ahead of, rather than in response to, mainstream consumer demand actually catching up.
Rather than positioning themselves as stablecoin issuers, Visa and Mastercard are building out infrastructure to serve as the connective layer between stablecoin wallets and the existing global payments system, a strategy designed to keep their networks essential to merchants and consumers even as more value moves through digital-dollar rails. PayPal has taken a somewhat different approach, issuing its own stablecoin, PYUSD, and embedding it directly inside its existing consumer and merchant network to build what amounts to a closed-loop stablecoin payment system running alongside traditional card infrastructure.
The competitive dynamics have also produced new alliances. Stripe, Visa and Mastercard are reportedly building a joint stablecoin platform, according to reporting in early June, while a separate initiative called Open USD has brought together Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Circle, Coinbase and BlackRock around shared stablecoin payment infrastructure. The scale of that collaboration underscores how central stablecoins have become to the payments industry's planning, even among companies that compete directly in other parts of their business.
Underlying all of this is a consumer-facing trend that has been building for several years: crypto and stablecoin card spending has grown from roughly $100 million a month in early 2023 to more than $1.5 billion by late 2025, a compound annual growth rate above 100%. As card networks race to build the rails connecting stablecoins to everyday commerce, that spending trajectory suggests the infrastructure investment is being made well ahead of, rather than in response to, mainstream consumer demand actually catching up.