Visa Begins Rolling Out Stablecoin Settlement in US

Visa has begun rolling out stablecoin settlement in the United States, allowing its U.S. issuer and acquirer partners to settle with Visa in Circle’s USDC stablecoin.

Cross River Bank and Lead Bank have started settling with Visa in USDC, and more U.S. partners will be onboarded through 2026, Visa said in a Tuesday (Dec. 16) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Financial institutions are looking for faster, programmable settlement options that integrate seamlessly with their existing treasury options,” Rubail Birwadker, global head of growth products and strategic partnerships at Visa, said in the release. “By bringing USDC settlement to the U.S., Visa is delivering a reliable, bank-ready capability that improves treasury efficiency while maintaining the security, compliance and resiliency standards our network requires.”

USDC settlement provides issuers with near-instant funds movement, seven-day settlement availability, and enhanced operational resilience across weekends and holidays, according to the release.

Lead Bank CEO Jackie Reses said in the release: “This capability brings speed and precision to treasury operations and helps us deliver modern financial services to the communities we serve.”

Cross River Founder, President and CEO Gilles Gade said in the release that with this collaboration, “we’re demonstrating how a tech-forward, deeply integrated banking partner can connect blockchain networks and legacy systems at scale.”

The offering of stablecoin settlement in the U.S. builds on Visa’s active stablecoin settlement pilots in several countries in three regions: Europe, Asia-Pacific and Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, according to the release.

The company’s monthly stablecoin settlement volume exceeded a $3.5 billion annualized run rate as of Nov. 30, per the release.

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney wrote in his annual letter to shareholders, released Dec. 9, that stablecoins are next-generation settlement infrastructure and that settlements in stablecoins such as USDC were on the company’s roadmap.

The company announced in July that it planned to support more stablecoins and blockchains on its settlement platform. Birwadker said at the time in a press release: “Visa is building a multicoin and multichain foundation to help meet the needs of our partners worldwide.”

In September, Visa announced a pilot that lets banks, remittance firms and other institutions load stablecoins into its cross-border money movement solution Visa Direct as a standing funding source for global disbursements.