Visa launched a stablecoin settlement pilot on Canton Network together with startup Brale. The company is testing whether a permissioned blockchain network can serve bank-grade infrastructure where transaction data must stay confidential.
Why did Visa move from Ethereum to Canton?
Back in 2021, Visa began testing stablecoin settlement on public Ethereum using USDC. The technology worked. But public blockchains expose every detail of a transaction to any observer. Participants, amounts, positions - all visible to anyone. For large banks and market intermediaries, that level of transparency is a dealbreaker.
The issue goes deeper than just publicity. When JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs runs a large settlement, they do not want competitors seeing the counterparty, size or timing. On a public blockchain, hiding that is not possible. That is why institutional players have shown interest in blockchain for years while struggling to apply it in practice.
Canton Network works differently. It is permissioned, meaning access is strictly controlled. Only the parties to a specific transaction and authorized regulators can see transaction data. Everyone else sees nothing. Atomic settlement across different tokenized assets remains possible. That balance between privacy and operational efficiency is what drew Visa to Canton.
How does Canton keep transactions private?
Canton was built by Digital Asset, a company focused on blockchain infrastructure for traditional financial markets. Connected participants include JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. These institutions run real operations through Canton, not just proof-of-concept demos.
Privacy is built into the protocol itself:
- Selective data access: only the direct parties to a transaction and permitted regulators can view its details.
- The network supports atomic settlement across tokenized assets, cash-like instruments and financial contracts.
- Banks retain full control over who can see their positions and fund movements.
- Regulators can audit a transaction without triggering any public disclosure.
Atomic settlement means both sides of an operation happen simultaneously or not at all. The seller does not transfer the asset before payment, and the buyer does not pay before receiving. For banks used to clearing delays and counterparty risk, that matters.
Public blockchains treat transparency as a fixed feature. Canton makes it configurable. For institutional markets, that distinction matters a great deal.
What is Brale's SBC and why is it in this test?
Brale issued SBC, a US dollar-backed stablecoin. Visa is using SBC in the pilot to simulate institutional payment flows on Canton. The company is assessing whether SBC could join its settlement program alongside other stablecoins.
The choice of Brale over better-known options like USDT reflects where Brale is positioned. The company builds infrastructure specifically for the banking sector and corporate clients. SBC is designed as an institutional payment tool, not a retail crypto product. This is a digital dollar for next-generation interbank settlement, not a token for P2P exchanges.
For Visa, the partnership with Brale has a practical angle. The US GENIUS Act, which regulates payment stablecoins, has not yet taken effect. But Visa is already selecting partners whose stablecoins will meet its requirements. Brale is building SBC precisely to that standard.
S&P Global report: stablecoin issuance crosses $300 billion
On the same day as the pilot announcement, S&P Global Ratings published a report on the stablecoin market. Total issuance across all currencies has already crossed $300 billion. Most demand still comes from crypto trading, but analysts see a clear shift toward real payments.
S&P Global sees cross-border transfers as the most promising near-term use case for stablecoins, even though their current share of global international payment volumes remains small. Once GENIUS Act rules are finalized, payment stablecoins could move into merchant remittances and broader corporate payments.
For banks, the picture is mixed. S&P Global warns that stablecoins could erode a portion of banks' payment fee income and shift funding from insured retail deposits into more concentrated wholesale balances. Banks that issue their own stablecoins or tokenized deposits could tap new fee revenue in return.
When does Visa take this beyond a pilot?
Visa has not named a timeline. The proof of concept will assess whether Canton's privacy architecture can support faster, programmable settlement while banks keep control over sensitive data.
US lawmakers are finalizing the GENIUS Act. Once those rules are in place, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and the other banks already connected to Canton will have a concrete reason to move from testing to live operations. Banks already on the network will have a first-mover edge.
The stablecoin market is moving from crypto speculation to the infrastructure of traditional finance. The Visa and Brale pilot on Canton is one more sign that this shift is happening now, not at some undefined point in the future.
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