Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement to 9 Networks as Volume Jumps 50% in One Quarter

Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot by adding five new blockchain networks: Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc and Tempo. Settlement volume through the program grew from roughly $4.7 billion to $7 billion on an annualized basis in a single quarter, a gain of approximately 49%. The payments giant now supports nine networks for stablecoin settlements with its partners.

The program launched in 2021 as a narrow USDC pilot on Ethereum. Over five years it expanded across new blockchains, geographies and stablecoin types. Today it spans more than 130 card programs in over 50 countries.

Five New Networks: What Each One Does

Base, incubated by Coinbase, is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network. It processed more than 500 million transactions in 2025 and became one of the most active Ethereum L2s by active wallet count. Polygon, battle-tested since 2017, delivers fast and relatively low-cost transactions and already serves as a payment rail for a number of financial companies.

Arc is Circle's layer-1 blockchain focused on stablecoin-native financial operations, primarily USDC. Tempo is Stripe's network, developed after its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in 2024, built specifically for stablecoin payments. Canton, created by Digital Asset, provides configurable privacy options designed for institutional participants.

Visa serves as a design partner for Arc and has already become a validator on both Tempo and Canton. That is infrastructure-level involvement, not a simple API connection. This format gives Visa a role in shaping network rules from the start.

49% Quarterly Growth: What the Volume Data Shows

The $7 billion annualized figure is Visa's own estimate based on Q1 2026 results. The prior comparable figure was roughly $4.7 billion. A 49% gain in three months points to active commercial engagement from program partners, not gradual technical adoption.

For context: Visa's traditional network processes more than $650 billion per year. The stablecoin pilot represents a small fraction of that total, but a 50% quarterly growth rate exceeds any comparable metric from Visa's core payment infrastructure over the past decade. The program is outpacing even optimistic projections.

Nine Networks: How the Multi-Chain Layer Works

Before this expansion, Visa supported four blockchains: Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Stellar. Adding five more networks doubles the supported blockchain count and creates a unified multi-chain settlement layer. Rubail Birwadker, Visa's Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, stated: "Our partners are building in a multi-chain world, and they expect their options to reflect that reality."

The architecture lets Visa partners choose whichever network fits their operations, while Visa provides a common settlement layer across all nine blockchains. That is more complex than a single-chain setup, but it eliminates dependence on any one network and protects partners from disruptions on individual chains.

130 Card Programs: Scale Beyond Pilot Phase

Visa's stablecoin card programs let holders spend digital assets at conventional point-of-sale terminals worldwide. More than 130 such programs across 50 countries signals a product well past pilot stage. In mid-2023 Visa reported fewer than 30 comparable programs, meaning the count has roughly quadrupled in two years.

These programs span multiple stablecoins and networks. USDT and USDC remain the most widely used base assets, though Visa does not publicly break down volumes by currency. Geographically, the largest concentration is in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where stablecoins address the practical problem of dollar access without a US bank account.

Risks of Multi-Chain Scaling

Nine networks instead of four increase operational complexity. Each blockchain carries its own security risks, transaction confirmation times and finalization mechanisms. A broader network list also means more potential failure points across the system.

• Liquidity fragmentation: splitting settlement activity across nine networks may reduce market depth on each individual chain.
• Regulatory status: Canton and Arc lack established legal classification in major jurisdictions, creating uncertainty for partners.
• Finalization latency: confirmation times range from seconds to minutes depending on the network - partners need to account for this variability in their business logic.
• Engineering overhead: maintaining nine integrations requires significantly more resources than a single-chain architecture.

What This Expansion Means for the Broader Market

Visa's move fits a wider industry pattern. Mastercard is building its own multi-chain payment infrastructure, PayPal continues pushing PYUSD, and Stripe is scaling stablecoin rails through Tempo. Large payments incumbents have shifted from technology experiments to direct competition for stablecoin settlement market share - and that shift happened in less than two years.

At $7 billion annualized, the pilot remains small next to Visa's traditional network volumes. But at 49% quarterly growth, coverage across 50 countries and validator status on new networks, the stablecoin program has moved beyond a research project for Visa.