Visa partnered with BVNK to enable stablecoin payments on Visa Direct, as U.S. regulation advances and institutional adoption grows.
- Visa has partnered with BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, to allow stablecoin funding and payouts over Visa Direct.
- The integration would allow the funding and settlement of Stablecoins for some commercial partners in summer markets.
- Visa’s partnership is an add-on to its previous tie to BVNK, in which the payment giant invested in March last year.
Visa has teamed up with the stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to enable payments in stablecoins via Visa Direct, the company’s real-time payment network, which processes nearly $1.7 trillion in payments.
On Wednesday, Visa announced that it has partnered with BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure provider that processes more than $30 billion in stablecoin payments annually. Under the agreement, BVNK will provide infrastructure support for Visa Direct’s stablecoin services in a select few markets. The integration features a stable point pre-funding and will allow some commercial partners to settle transactions using digital assets instead of the more traditional fiat currency, while allowing recipients to receive payouts in stablecoins.
The firm will also help Visa directly scale its stablecoin features in jurisdictions where it is approved, initially focusing on markets with higher demand for digital asset-based payments. According to the payment joint, broader rollout will, however, depend on customer adoption and regulatory conditions.
Visa delved into stablecoin back in 2021 by announcing plans to settle USD Coin (USDC) on its network. In December last year, it officially allowed banks and financial institutions to settle in USDC.
Washington’s Push To Regulate Crypto
The announcement comes on the heels of Washington’s push to regulate the crypto market. Lawmakers also approved the GENIUS Act, a bill focused on stablecoin regulations, while the broader market-structure legislation known as the CLARITY Act is up for markup in Congress.
Visa invested in BVNK in May last year, adding to the ongoing relationship between the two companies. Mark Nelson, Global head of product for commercial and money movement solutions, sees table coins as a tool that can enhance Visa’s ability to make faster payments across borders and provide access to money outside normal banking hours.
BVNK CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers said the partnership is part of a larger push to present stablecoins as an underlying form of payment infrastructure and “not just as a payment method.”
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