Visa now supports stablecoin payouts for creators in new ‘breakthrough’ pilot
Global payments giant Visa now supports direct stablecoin payouts, starting with Circle's USDC, through a new pilot designed to enable near-instant cross-border payments for creators, freelancers, and gig workers.The "breakthrough" pilot allows businesses and platforms in the U.S. using Visa Direct to fund payouts in fiat currency, while recipients can choose to receive funds in USDC, the company said Wednesday. For recipients, this means faster, borderless access to earnings — particularly valuable in regions with volatile currencies or limited banking access, Visa said."Launching stablecoin payouts is about enabling truly universal access to money in minutes — not days — for anyone, anywhere in the world," said Chris Newkirk, president of commercial and money movement solutions at Visa. "Whether it's a creator building a digital brand, a business reaching new global markets, or a freelancer working across borders, everyone benefits from faster, more flexible money movement."Visa said the pilot builds on its ongoing work with stablecoin payments. It follows an earlier September pilot that enabled businesses to pre-fund payouts with stablecoins; the new phase goes further by letting end recipients receive payments directly in stablecoins."In September, Visa Direct announced its stablecoin pre-funding pilot: letting businesses fund Visa Direct payouts using stablecoins instead of only fiat, a back-end treasury innovation," Visa said. "Today’s pilot enables payouts to end recipients, like consumers, in stablecoins — putting digital dollars directly in recipients’ wallets."Recipients must have a "compatible" stablecoin wallet and meet know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering (KYC/AML) requirements to receive stablecoin payouts. "This means they meet the Visa protocol and standards," a Visa spokesperson told The Block.The pilot launches with select unnamed partners, with broader rollout planned for the second half of 2026 as client demand grows and regulatory frameworks advance. Only USDC will be supported at launch, the spokesperson said, declining to disclose any partners.Visa's expanding stablecoin strategyVisa’s stablecoin initiatives have accelerated over the past year following the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act, the first federal law establishing clear rules for stablecoins — a sector analysts view as a trillion-dollar opportunity.Since 2020, Visa has facilitated over $140 billion in crypto and stablecoin flows, including Visa users purchasing more than $100 billion of crypto and stablecoin assets using their Visa credentials and spending more than $35 billion in crypto and stablecoin assets using Visa credentials, CEO Ryan McInerney said last month on the company's latest quarterly earnings call."We now have more than 130 stablecoin-linked card issuing programs in over 40 countries," McInerney said at the time. "And in Q4, stablecoin-linked Visa card spend quadrupled versus a year ago. We expanded the number of stablecoins and blockchains available for settlement and monthly volume has now passed a $2.5 billion annualized run rate."Earlier this year, Visa partnered with Stripe-owned Bridge to let developers issue stablecoin-linked Visa cards, and with Yellow Card in Africa to explore treasury and liquidity use cases. Last year, it also launched the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform, enabling banks to mint and burn their own stablecoins in pilot environments, and tested stablecoin settlement for card issuers and acquirers.Stablecoins are a key pillar of Visa’s product roadmap, particularly for emerging markets and cross-border money movement — including remittances, B2B transfers, and gig-economy payouts — according to McInerney.Asked if Visa might issue its own stablecoin, the company spokesperson recently told The Block: "In the stablecoin ecosystem, it's hard to rule anything out," but emphasized that Visa's near-term focus remains on scaling use cases for existing stablecoins through cards, settlement, and bank integrations.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.