Visa Launches U.S. Stablecoin Payout Pilot to Accelerate Global Digital Payments
Visa is taking another major step in digital payments with a new pilot program that allows U.S. businesses to send stablecoin payouts directly to crypto wallets. Announced at the Web Summit in Lisbon, the initiative connects traditional bank accounts to blockchain-based transfers, aiming to speed up cross-border payments and support the expanding freelance economy.
In brief
- Visa’s new pilot enables U.S. businesses to send stablecoin payouts directly from traditional bank accounts to supported crypto wallets.
- Workers can receive funds in fiat or stablecoins, gaining faster access to earnings and improved flexibility in global transactions.
- Transfers settle within minutes, offering gig platforms and freelancers a faster alternative to traditional cross-border payment rails.
- Broader rollout expected by 2026 as Visa expands blockchain integrations amid rising institutional stablecoin adoption.
Visa Pilot Brings Near-Instant USDC Payouts to U.S. Businesses
Payments in the pilot program run through Visa Direct, the company’s digital network. Businesses holding traditional U.S. dollar accounts can send U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC), while recipients can choose to receive their funds directly in stablecoins via supported crypto wallets.
Chris Newkirk, Visa’s president of money movement solutions, explained that the goal is to provide swift and universal access to financial services . According to Newkirk, faster payouts can benefit workers and small businesses that depend on quick settlements.
Launching stablecoin payouts is about enabling truly universal access to money in minutes, not days, for anyone, anywhere in the world.
Chris Newkirk
The company is onboarding initial partners and expects broader access by 2026, focusing on international businesses and gig platforms that process high volumes of microtransactions.
Gig Platforms to Gain Faster Digital Payouts Through Stablecoin Pilot
According to Visa’s research, 58% of gig workers prefer digital payments for faster access to funds—a result that supports the company’s push to expand its payment infrastructure.
The pilot introduces several features designed to simplify global transactions:
- Direct fiat-to-stablecoin transfers: Businesses can send payouts from traditional accounts straight to stablecoin wallets without intermediaries.
- Flexible recipient options: Workers can choose to receive funds in either stablecoins or fiat currency.
- Faster settlements: Transfers are completed within minutes instead of days.
- Focus on freelancers and global operators: Built for sectors that depend on quick digital payments.
- Gradual rollout: Testing with select partners before a full-scale launch in 2026.
Visa’s latest move marks another step in its expansion into blockchain-based payments . In July, the company added new stablecoins—including Global Dollar (USDG), PayPal USD (PYUSD), and Euro Coin (EURC)—to its settlement platform on the Stellar and Avalanche networks. Two months later, Visa Direct began testing instant transfers using USDC and EURC to accelerate treasury settlements.
The expansion comes amid clearer U.S. regulations under the GENIUS Act, a federal framework for stablecoins. As oversight increases, major players—including Citigroup, Western Union, and several Wall Street banks—are introducing their own stablecoin initiatives, making digital settlement a growing focus of global finance.
Supporting this trend, BNY’s recent findings show rising institutional use of stablecoins for decentralized transactions. The bank notes that more firms are shifting high-value transfers to stablecoins to improve liquidity management and reduce delays in legacy systems . It projects that transaction volumes could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030 as adoption widens across financial services.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
UBS: Maintains Tesla (TSLA.US) “Neutral” rating, target price $385, AI narrative dominates stock price pricing logic
UBS predicts that Tesla's global deliveries in the third quarter of 2026 (3Q26) will be approximately 470,000 vehicles, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 1%.
Altcoin Price Targets Point to Six 2027 Levels
The AI frenzy withstands the "5% US Treasury yield"! Nasdaq hits new highs, strengthening the "80/20" pattern as Wall Street reassesses stock-bond allocation
The 30-year US Treasury yield briefly reached about 5.53%, hitting its highest level since 2004, while Brent crude remains above $100 per barrel. Risk assets have once again withstood the pressure, reflecting investors' continued belief that the commercialization of AI applications and corporate profit growth can to some extent offset the impact of rising financing costs and discount rates.
AI infrastructure hits a "wall"! Marvell: Copper interconnects and memory bottlenecks become key to the next stage of computing power expansion
The AI computing power competition is evolving into a system-level game encompassing interconnection and memory. According to Marvell executives, inference models have driven KV cache growth by about 10 times in nine months, and rack-level memory can no longer meet demand. Copper connections are approaching their limits, making optical interconnection and memory expansion core to computing power growth. Customization has become an industry trend, and Marvell is set to benefit from its expertise in analog SerDes, photonic fabric memory, and end-to-end customization.
Crypto prices
More
