Visa Launches Stablecoin Consulting Service
In a significant move to enhance its footprint in the cryptocurrency realm, Visa has unveiled a dedicated consulting service focused on stablecoins, designed to assist a variety of clients including financial technology firms and banks. The initiative, according to Carl Rutstein, Visa’s head of consulting and analytics, is largely a response to increasing interest and demand from the market for stablecoin solutions.
Understanding Stablecoins
Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency known for their value stability due to being pegged to traditional assets like the U.S. dollar, have gained traction particularly after the enactment of the Genius Act by President Donald Trump. This legislation, which came into effect in July, has set the groundwork for more formally regulating digital asset creation, encouraging traditional financial institutions to explore stablecoins.
Visa’s Advisory Service
As other major payment processing companies, such as PayPal and Mastercard, have ramped up their efforts in the stablecoin area, Visa’s new advisory service has already onboarded numerous clients, including notable names like Navy Federal Credit Union and VyStar Credit Union, alongside Pathward, a rising financial entity. This service aims to guide these organizations through the complexities of integrating stablecoin technology, covering aspects from strategic development to practical execution.
Potential Use Cases and Future Outlook
Clients of Visa’s advisory service are investigating potential use cases for stablecoins, which encompass international remittances to nations with unstable currencies and intra-company transfers. Rutstein has indicated that while some organizations may feel encouraged to push forward with their stablecoin strategies after consulting with Visa, others might find that current market conditions do not justify such initiatives.
Looking ahead, Visa anticipates that the number of organizations leveraging its stablecoin advisory service will grow significantly, targeting a diverse array of hundreds of clients in the future. Visa’s involvement in the crypto sector is not new; the company has already experimented with USDC for transactions and maintains over 130 card issuance projects tied to stablecoins across more than 40 countries, with an impressive annual settlement volume approaching $3.5 billion.
