Visa’s partnership with Bridge will let users spend stablecoins via Visa cards at any merchant accepting Visa, essentially plugging crypto into a network comparable to Mastercard’s roughly 150 million-store global footprint. Mastercard has signaled a similar push – teaming up with stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos and payments firm Nuvei to enable merchants to receive stablecoin payments. Industry supporters say such moves could nudge cryptocurrencies toward everyday use by integrating with familiar payment rails. At the same time, analysts caution this isn’t a guaranteed leap: regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere are still framing new stablecoin rules — even debating requirements for reserve backing and liquidity — and merchants remain wary. Stablecoins raise questions about issuer reserves, liquidity and fraud controls, and integration challenges persist. These card initiatives may mark incremental progress rather than an outright breakthrough, underscoring that mainstream adoption will depend on evolving rules and trust in the underlying tokens.

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