Visa launches stablecoin platform enabling banks and fintechs to issue and settle digital dollars, intensifying competition for Circle's USDC.
DeFi & Yields ·
Visa unveiled a new platform on Thursday enabling banks, fintech companies and crypto firms to issue, store and transfer stablecoins on its payments network. The Visa Stablecoin Platform launched with support for Open USD, a recently introduced stablecoin from Open Standard, and combines wallet infrastructure, minting and redemption tools, and direct integration with Visa's existing payment systems. The offering aims to reduce operational complexity for institutions seeking to deploy blockchain-based settlement and treasury products without overhauling legacy infrastructure.
The move intensifies an already competitive stablecoin landscape. Open Standard, which backs Open USD, counts Visa, BlackRock, Alphabet and Coinbase among its supporters and operates under a model that eliminates issuance and redemption fees while returning reserve income to distribution partners rather than retaining it as issuer revenue. This structural shift threatens established players: Circle's USDC, the second-largest stablecoin after Tether's USDT, saw its stock price fall about 5% on the announcement, with investors citing concerns that the economics may migrate away from centralized issuers toward distribution networks.
What remains uncertain is whether institutions will migrate toward Open USD at scale or whether multiple stablecoin standards will coexist. The outcome depends partly on adoption rates among the banks and payment firms that both Visa and Open Standard are targeting.