Visa expands stablecoin settlement pilots for payments

Visa is expanding its stablecoin settlement pilots across multiple regions, blockchains, and currencies, while integrating artificial intelligence and tokenization deeper into its payment network. The company said its system has already processed billions of dollars in stablecoin transactions, with an annualized run rate of about $7 billion as of March 2026.

Stablecoin settlement expands across networks

The payments giant is working toward seven-day, on-chain settlement between banks and acquirers, aiming to increase transaction speed and flexibility. Stablecoins are being positioned as a core operational layer in global payments, supporting both consumer and institutional activity rather than serving as speculative tools.

This expansion reflects a broader effort to enable always-on settlement infrastructure, addressing limitations in traditional financial systems that operate within fixed hours.

Tokenized deposits and programmable money

As part of its tokenization push, Visa is developing technology for tokenized deposits that allow banks to convert traditional funds into programmable digital money while keeping assets on their balance sheets.

The company is also enhancing token data with transaction details such as type and location, alongside a trust scoring system called Token Assurance. This feature evaluates the reliability of tokens throughout their lifecycle, aiming to improve authorization decisions and reduce false declines.

Ai-driven commerce takes shape

Visa is building tools for what it calls “agentic commerce,” where AI systems autonomously execute transactions for businesses and consumers. To support this, it introduced Agent Score, which measures how effectively AI agents interact with merchant systems, and Agentic Directory, a registry of verified AI participants.

The company also launched its Large Transaction Model, trained on billions of transactions, to strengthen fraud detection, improve authorization rates, and minimize erroneous declines.

Partnership with OpenAI

In a separate announcement, Visa confirmed a partnership with OpenAI to develop payment tools tailored for AI-driven commerce. The collaboration will allow developers and merchants to accept payments initiated by AI agents using tokenized credentials, real-time authorization, and integrated fraud monitoring.

These systems are designed to support emerging digital workflows, including conversational commerce, with programmable controls such as spending limits and merchant restrictions defined by users.

Market context and infrastructure shift

The expansion comes as the stablecoin market reached roughly $319.9 billion in total value in early June 2026, despite a slight weekly contraction. Visa’s current volumes remain relatively small compared to the broader market, but signal growing adoption of stablecoins in back-end financial operations.

At the same time, tokenized real-world assets have grown rapidly, increasing by 589% from early 2025 to mid-2026, as traditional financial instruments move onto blockchain-based systems.

Long-term strategy over immediate revenue

Visa framed these initiatives as long-term infrastructure investments rather than near-term revenue drivers. The company reported $11.2 billion in fiscal second-quarter 2026 revenue, still largely dominated by its traditional payment services.

The strategy points to a gradual integration of blockchain technology into mainstream finance, with systems designed to operate alongside existing digital assets like USDT and USDC, rather than replace them.