Visa Launches Pilot Program in the United States to Explore Stablecoin Payments

Recently, global payments giant Visa announced the launch of an innovative pilot project that allows U.S. businesses to send USD stablecoins such as USDC directly from fiat accounts to cryptocurrency wallets via the Visa Direct digital payments network to meet business payment needs.

The core of this service is its seamless connection between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem. Businesses can fund accounts with fiat currencies like USD and then send stablecoins such as USDC directly to the recipient's crypto wallet.

Chris Newkirk, President of Visa's Funds Flow Solutions, emphasized that this move aims to enable users worldwide to complete fund transfers "in minutes rather than days," significantly improving cross-border payment efficiency.

The pilot program is initially open to select partners, focusing on serving international businesses and flexible economy sectors. Visa's research shows that 57% of gig economy workers prefer fast digital payments, creating broad application scenarios for stablecoin payments. Visa plans to expand this service to more users by 2026.

Notably, this is Visa's third major move in the blockchain payments space this year. The company first integrated USDG into its settlement platform in July and began testing real-time interbank settlements using USDC and EURC in September.

This pilot is a strategic step for Visa, coming after the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory environment and the establishment of a federal stablecoin regulatory framework under the GENIUS Act.

Meanwhile, industry giants and startups worldwide are sparking a wave of stablecoin payment applications:

Citigroup is exploring stablecoin payment solutions; Western Union plans to launch a digital asset settlement system on Solana;

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other Wall Street giants are also in early stages of developing their own stablecoins; Visa is concurrently advancing related pilots.

Additionally, stablecoin startups like Telcoin and Hercle have recently secured significant venture capital funding. These developments demonstrate strong market confidence in the stablecoin ecosystem.

In summary, as the regulatory environment becomes clearer, we can expect more financial institutions to join this movement, jointly shaping the future payment infrastructure and potentially accelerating the digital transformation of the financial system.

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