Visa Stablecoin Pilot Now Covers Nine Blockchains Including Canton, Polygon

Visa has added five blockchains to its stablecoin settlement pilot, bringing total network support to nine as of April 29. The expansion includes Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo. The pilot, which already supports USDC-linked card settlement in more than 50 countries, has reached a $7 billion annualized run rate, up 50% from the previous quarter.

What Blockchains Does Visa's Stablecoin Pilot Now Support?

The pilot originally ran on four networks. It now covers nine total, spanning a range of use cases from institutional settlement to consumer payments.

The four existing networks are:

• Ethereum
• Solana
• Avalanche
• Stellar

The five newly added networks are:

• Base (powered by Coinbase): designed for fast, low-cost stablecoin settlement
• Polygon: high-throughput infrastructure built for global payments
• Canton Network: built with configurable privacy for regulated capital markets and institutional use
• Arc (created by Circle): a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for programmable money and on-chain economic activity
• Tempo (backed by Stripe): focused on faster and more private stablecoin liquidity movement

Each network serves a slightly different segment. Canton, for example, targets institutional settlement where compliance and privacy controls are required. Base and Polygon are better suited to high-volume, lower-cost consumer and fintech applications.

Why Is Visa Expanding Stablecoin Settlement Across Multiple Chains?

According to Visa, its partners are already operating across multiple blockchains and need settlement infrastructure that matches that reality.

Rubail Birwadker, Visa's Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, said partners expect their options to reflect the multi-chain environment they are building in.

“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,” said Birwadker. 

In practical terms, this matters because liquidity in the stablecoin market is not concentrated on a single chain. A fintech operating on Polygon and a bank settling on Canton both need access to Visa's infrastructure. Supporting nine networks removes the need for those partners to convert or bridge assets before settlement.

How Stablecoin Settlement Differs From Traditional Rails

Traditional cross-border payments can take one to three business days to clear through correspondent banking systems. Stablecoin settlement over blockchain infrastructure moves in near real time, using dollar-pegged tokens like USDC instead of waiting for interbank transfers to complete.

Visa's pilot lets issuers and acquirers settle directly with the network using stablecoins, reducing reliance on slower legacy rails for at least part of the settlement process.

How Large Is Visa's Stablecoin Settlement Pilot?

The pilot has reached a $7 billion annualized stablecoin settlement run rate. That figure is up 50% from the previous quarter, according to Visa. The program covers USDC settlement linked to more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs across more than 50 countries.

Visa noted this builds on live pilots and regional rollouts across Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa, as well as a recent expansion of USDC settlement to US banks.

Conclusion

Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot now covers nine blockchains, processes $7 billion in annualized volume, and supports card programs in more than 50 countries. The addition of Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc, and Tempo gives institutional and fintech partners more network options while keeping Visa as the common settlement layer across all of them.

Resources

1. Press release by VISA: Visa Accelerates Stablecoin Momentum: Adding Five Blockchains for Settlement

2. Report by CoinDesk: Visa expands stablecoin settlement network as volume hits $7 billion run rate