Visa announced on April 29 that its global stablecoin payment pilot program has achieved an annualized transaction volume of $7 billion, representing a 50% quarter-over-quarter increase. The program now supports nine blockchains after adding Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, and Tempo.
Multi-Chain Expansion Meets Real-World Demand
The pilot originally launched on four networks: Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar. The five new additions each serve distinct market segments. Arc, built by Circle, targets programmable commerce and real-time settlement with USDC. Base, maintained by Coinbase, focuses on fast and low-cost transactions for stablecoins and on-chain assets. Canton is designed for regulated capital markets with configurable privacy. Polygon brings high-throughput infrastructure suitable for global payment volumes. Tempo aims at private and efficient stablecoin liquidity mobility. Rubail Birwadker, Visa's global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, said: “Our partners are building a multi-chain world, and they expect their options to reflect that reality. Expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot to more blockchains means our partners can choose the networks that best fit their needs, trusting Visa to provide a common settlement layer across all of them.”
Volume Doubles and Global Coverage
In December 2025, Visa extended USDC settlement to U.S. institutions, at which point monthly volume had already reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate. That figure has since doubled. The $7 billion figure reflects actual volume, not projections, and represents a 50% jump from the previous quarter. Over 130 stablecoin-linked Visa card programs now operate in more than 50 countries. Live pilots and regional deployments have been conducted in Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the CEMEA region. Visa began testing stablecoin payments with USDC as early as 2021, starting with pilots on Solana. What began as an experiment has evolved into an operational infrastructure actively used by financial institutions, fintechs, and payment service providers.
Industry Reaction and Outlook
Base founder Jesse Pollak called the move a step toward making stablecoin payments an everyday reality for billions of people. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron said the inclusion of Polygon signals that stablecoins are becoming part of real-world payments at scale. Eric Saraniecki of Digital Asset noted that Visa's platform allows regulated institutions to explore on-chain payment processing without deviating from their regulatory requirements. Circle's product and technology lead Nikhil Chandhok highlighted Arc's real-time settlement capability and its potential for agent-driven economic activity. Tempo's Ani Narayan stated that Visa's dual role as a validator and settlement partner brings always-on, programmable payments closer to widespread use. Global stablecoin supply has grown massively, with liquidity distributed across multiple chains. Visa's approach positions the company as a unified settlement layer across the decentralized ecosystem rather than anchoring to a single network. For issuers and acquirers, the practical implications include faster settlement, 24/7 availability, and greater flexibility in managing liquidity across different blockchain networks. Visa said it continues to focus on meeting the reliability and security standards of its traditional channels. The nine-chain milestone elevates Visa's stablecoin infrastructure beyond pilot status. Volume, partner list, and institutional participation all indicate the program has transitioned from proof-of-concept to ongoing operational use.