Payment giant Visa and Stripe's stablecoin platform Bridge announced an expansion of their stablecoin card program.

Launched in 2025, the product is currently available in 18 countries, allowing users to make everyday purchases using tokens from crypto wallets like Phantom and MetaMask. Visa transactions on the blockchain are facilitated through Bridge's partnership with Lead Bank.

These transactions can be processed at over 175 million merchant locations that utilize Visa's services.

The project primarily covers South and Central America, with plans to expand to 100 jurisdictions across Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East by the end of 2026.

As part of this initiative, Visa is piloting the integration of stablecoin payments between card issuers and acquiring clients. The company's stated goals include:

  • assessing transaction efficiency improvements through blockchain data reconciliation;
  • determining the role of infrastructure platforms like Bridge in on-chain communications with institutions.

“Visa aims to engage with businesses wherever they operate, increasingly within DLT networks,” said Cue Sheffield, head of Visa's crypto division.

Another goal of the Visa-Bridge collaboration is to evaluate the potential for Visa to support the issuance of intermediate assets by the platform. The use of tokens in cash flows is expected to enhance Visa's network capabilities and introduce new payment mechanisms.

Stablecoin Boom Expands

In October 2024, Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion. The acquired technology enabled the fintech firm to launch its own stablecoin issuance platform about a year later . Stripe also collaborated with Paradigm to develop the Layer 1 blockchain Tempo, specifically designed for payments in pegged tokens.

Co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison explained this shift after years of ignoring cryptocurrencies, citing growing business interest in using “stablecoins.” Standard Chartered confirmed that corporate clients prefer such tokens over other digital assets.

Following the passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. in 2025, which regulates stablecoins, many experts predicted a boom in this segment of the crypto market. JPMorgan suggested that the race to issue assets could turn into a zero-sum competition.

In 2025, the total transaction volume involving stablecoins surged by 72%, reaching $33 trillion. USDC from Circle led the way with $17.3 trillion, compared to $12.9 trillion for USDT from Tether, despite a more than twofold gap in market capitalization.

Source: CoinGecko.

By January 2026, the volume of transfers in “stablecoins” exceeded $10.5 trillion, further solidifying Circle's dominance.

As a reminder, in February it was reported that Meta plans to enter the stablecoin market by the end of the year . Stripe is the leading candidate for pilot testing the future coin from the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.