Visa has started a new service in Latin America to help people make payments using stablecoin. The company is working with Bridge, a tech firm owned by Stripe, to make this happen. Their goal is to give people in countries like Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico a new and easy way to pay using digital money.
This service will let users spend stablecoin, which are digital dollars, at local shops that accept Visa cards. With over 150 million stores connected to Visa worldwide, this can help many people.
Making Payments Easier
With this advanced system, people can use stablecoins instead of regular money to buy things. This digital currency is better for some users because they don’t change in value much. This can help in countries where prices go up quickly or money loses value.
Bridge will also make it easier for app makers to add payments with this currency to their platforms. Developers only need to use one simple connection (called an API) to use the service.
Source: X (twitter)
More Countries Coming Soon
Right now, the service is live in three countries, Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador. But Visa aims to expand the service into Europe, Asia, and Africa soon. They also partnered with Lead Bank to help with the banking side of the project.
Big Companies Focus on Stablecoins
Visa isn’t the only big company working on stablecoins. Mastercard also started a new stablecoin payment system this week. Other companies like Robinhood and Revolut may also launch stablecoin in the future.
Now, the market for this currency is more than $239 billion. It is expected to reach $500 billion in the coming years. To remain competitive, Ripple introduced its own stablecoin named RLUSD and even attempted to acquire Circle, the firm behind the USDC coin, for $5 billion. That transaction did not materialize.
What About the Rules?
Although these coins are increasing rapidly, most countries lack regulations on how to use them. In the United States, there are efforts to pass new legislation such as the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act to regulate how stablecoins operate.
