Visa Eyes Stablecoin Settlement On Canton Network

Visa and Brale have launched a proof-of-concept to explore stablecoin-based settlement using SBC on the Canton Network $CC, marking the payments giant's latest push to bring blockchain infrastructure into institutional finance.

What the Pilot Involves

The two companies are evaluating stablecoin-based settlement using SBC, a U.S. dollar-backed token issued by Brale, on the Canton Network. The program is designed to test how privacy-enabled blockchain infrastructure can support institutional payment flows, including faster and programmable settlement, while allowing financial institutions and payment firms to maintain control over the visibility of sensitive transaction data.

A central focus of the collaboration is the Canton Network's privacy architecture, which is designed to allow participants to transact on shared infrastructure while limiting the visibility of sensitive transaction information. SBC is natively supported on the Canton Network, enabling Brale and Visa to test how privacy-preserving infrastructure can be applied to real-world institutional payment flows.

Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, said the project explores "how SBC on the Canton Network can support institutional settlement use cases that require both programmability and privacy controls." Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Brale, noted that financial institutions are increasingly looking for stablecoin infrastructure that meets their operational, regulatory, and privacy requirements.

Broader Context

Visa first enabled stablecoin settlement in 2021. Its stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate as of April, a 50% increase from the prior quarter. The pilot now spans nine blockchains, including Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, Tempo, Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar.

The Canton Network has attracted broad institutional backing since its launch, with founding participants including BNP Paribas, CBOE, Deutsche Börse, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Paxos. Earlier this year, Visa announced it would join Canton as the first major global payments company to serve as a Super Validator, extending privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure to banks and financial institutions around the world.

Through collaborations like this, Visa continues to advance how blockchain infrastructure can support the privacy, compliance, and interoperability standards required by financial institutions and payment networks.

Sources:
Visa Official Press Release: Visa and Brale Explore Private Stablecoin Settlement for Institutional Payments
The Block: Visa, Brale test privacy-enabled SBC stablecoin settlement on Canton Network
Visa Official Press Release: Visa to Bring Privacy-Preserving Payments to Canton Network