Dunamu and Visa have agreed to explore stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances and artificial intelligence-based financial services, linking South Korea’s largest digital-asset platform operator with one of the world’s largest payments networks.
The partnership, announced by Dunamu on Friday, would examine how stablecoins could connect with existing payment rails while meeting regulatory requirements. It also places AI-driven transaction tools alongside tokenized money in the companies’ initial agenda, though neither side disclosed a launch date, commercial product, financial terms or deployment timetable.
Dunamu said it plans to combine its digital-asset technology with Visa’s global payments infrastructure. The work is expected to cover stablecoin-based payments and international transfers, two areas where blockchain-based settlement could potentially streamline processes that often involve several banks and intermediary networks.
The announcement comes two days after Visa separately disclosed an agreement with Shinhan Financial Group to collaborate on stablecoins, AI and business-to-business payments. Taken together, the deals give Visa two distinct partnerships in South Korea’s financial and digital-asset sectors, although the companies have not described how, or whether, the projects would overlap.
Ai agents are included in the payments discussion
A central element of the Dunamu-Visa project is the exploration of “agentic commerce,” a model in which an AI agent can search for products or services and complete a purchase and payment on a user’s behalf.
That concept raises questions beyond the mechanics of a transaction. An AI agent capable of spending money would need defined limits on purchasing authority, identity checks, user consent and dispute handling. Stablecoins could serve as one payment option within such systems, but the partners did not identify which assets, wallets, merchants or consumer protections would be used.
Visa has been examining ways to support AI-assisted payments as technology companies build tools that can take actions for users rather than simply answer questions. Dunamu’s announcement frames stablecoin settlement and AI commerce as connected areas of development, suggesting that the companies are considering the payment layer needed if autonomous software begins making limited commercial decisions.
The absence of product specifications means the partnership remains exploratory. No information was provided on whether the work would begin with domestic Korean payments, remittances, corporate transactions or another use case.
Ousd is under review, not in use
Dunamu also said the companies would review potential future uses of Open Standard’s Open USD, or OUSD, stablecoin. The token was announced in June but is not yet live.
Open Standard has described OUSD as dollar-backed shared payments infrastructure. According to the project, the proposed model would charge no minting or redemption fees at scale and would pass most reserve revenue to participating firms. Such arrangements differ from the traditional stablecoin issuer model, in which the issuer generally retains income generated by reserves backing the tokens.
The project has said it has support from more than 140 global institutions, including Visa, Mastercard and Google. Dunamu’s reference to OUSD does not establish that Visa or Dunamu has committed to issue, distribute or integrate the stablecoin. The wording limits the current collaboration to considering possible applications in future work.
That distinction is particularly relevant following earlier confusion around the OUSD consortium. Several South Korean companies, including Dunamu and Samsung Electronics, had previously appeared on lists of consortium partners. Those companies later said they had no formal agreement to participate.
For Dunamu, examining OUSD could offer a route toward a stablecoin model designed around institutional participation rather than a single issuer’s ecosystem. For Visa, the review adds another potential token format to its stablecoin research without committing its network to a particular asset.
South Korea becomes a focal point for payment experiments
The two Visa agreements arrive as South Korea considers a more detailed framework for digital assets. Stablecoin policy has become a prominent issue in the country, where authorities and lawmakers have debated requirements for issuance, reserves and oversight amid efforts to develop the next phase of digital-asset legislation.
Dunamu operates Upbit, a major South Korean cryptocurrency platform, and has built technology and compliance infrastructure around digital assets. A partnership with Visa could give its stablecoin research a direct connection to established card and payment networks, rather than limiting potential applications to cryptocurrency trading venues or on-chain transfers.
Visa’s role also gives the project a practical challenge: stablecoin systems will need to work with merchants, banks, identity systems and consumer-payment rules already embedded in national markets. Cross-border remittance tools may be among the more immediate areas to test, since stablecoins can move continuously on blockchain networks while recipients still require accessible local-currency conversion and payment options.
The announcement does not indicate that any stablecoin will soon be available to Visa cardholders or Upbit users. It instead sets out a joint effort to assess whether regulated stablecoin infrastructure and AI-directed purchasing can operate within mainstream payment systems.
With OUSD not yet live and no product rollout identified, the next evidence of progress will likely come through a defined pilot, named payment corridor or detailed technical framework rather than from the partnership agreement itself.
Explore how AI is transforming stablecoin payments with Toobit’s in-depth guide: discover the next evolution of AI in banking.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
