Visa Deploys Stablecoin Settlement Across Visa Direct to 18 Billion Endpoints
Visa launched USDC settlement in the United States on Dec. 16, 2025, enabling U.S. issuer and acquirer partners to settle with Visa in Circle's USDC stablecoin for the first time. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank are the initial banking participants, settling over the Solana blockchain. The program offers seven-day settlement windows, replacing the traditional five-business-day cycle.
As of Nov. 30, 2025, Visa's monthly stablecoin settlement volume had reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate. Visa is also a design partner for Arc, a new Layer 1 blockchain developed by Circle, currently in public testnet. The company plans to use Arc for USDC settlement and to operate a validator node once it goes live.
Broader U.S. availability is planned through 2026.
- Major card networks embedding stablecoin rails into production infrastructure signals mainstream adoption of crypto-based settlement for cross-border payments
- Fintechs and BaaS platforms may need to integrate stablecoin capabilities to remain competitive in cross-border payout services
- OfficialUsa — Press Release
- NewsYahoo Finance — Aug 2026