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Visa is expanding its global stablecoin settlement pilot to support nine blockchains, adding five new networks as the payments company reports the program has reached a $7 billion annualised settlement run rate – up 50 per cent quarter on quarter.
The five blockchains being added are Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon and Tempo. They join four networks already supported by the pilot: Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana and Stellar.
The expansion is part of Visa’s effort to build multi-chain settlement infrastructure that allows its issuer and acquirer partners to choose which blockchain networks they use for stablecoin-based settlement.
A multi-chain approach
Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships at Visa, described the expansion as a response to how partners are building their operations.
“Our partners are building in a multi-chain world, and they expect their options to reflect that reality,” Birwadker explained. “Expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot program to more blockchains means our partners can choose the networks that best fit their needs, while relying on Visa to provide a common settlement layer across all of them.”
What the five new chains bring
Each of the five new blockchains serves a different segment of the market.
Arc is an open Layer-1 blockchain created by Circle, designed to connect programmable money with real-world economic activity. Base, powered by Coinbase, is positioned as a high-performance chain for fast, low-cost settlement. Canton is built with configurable privacy for regulated capital markets and institutional use cases. Polygon focuses on high-throughput infrastructure for payments and digital commerce. Tempo is aimed at real-time stablecoin settlement and liquidity movement.
From pilots to production
Visa’s stablecoin settlement work has moved through several stages over recent years, including live pilots and regional rollouts across Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The company has also expanded USDC settlement to US banks and reports more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs operating in more than 50 countries.
The growth to a $7 billion run rate suggests increasing willingness among financial institutions, fintechs and payment providers to use blockchain infrastructure for settlement alongside traditional rails.
Partner reactions
Jesse Pollak, Founder of Base, framed Visa’s expansion as a step toward mainstream adoption.
“Visa’s expansion is a pivotal step in making stablecoin payments a daily reality for billions of people, enabling a faster, cheaper and more useful financial system for everyone,” Pollak stated.
Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Circle, pointed to the demand driving the integration.
“Our work with Visa reflects growing demand for stablecoins like USDC and blockchain infrastructure that can settle today’s payment flows instantly while enabling the next era of programmable commerce and agent-driven economic activity,” Chandhok commented.
Eric Saraniecki, Head of Network Strategy at Digital Asset and Co-Founder of the Canton Network, highlighted the compliance dimension.
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“Canton was designed to meet demanding requirements of regulated institutions, and Visa’s stablecoin settlement platform provides a bridge that lets them explore onchain settlement while staying aligned with their compliance requirements,” Saraniecki noted.
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, described the move as a signal that stablecoins are entering real-world payments at scale.
“By combining Visa’s global reach with Polygon’s fast, low-cost infrastructure, we are making stablecoin settlement more practical, reliable and accessible for partners around the world,” Boiron added.
Last Updated on April 29, 2026 by Nick Ross
