#StablecoinPayments

Visa launches stablecoin payments in Latin America in major advance for crypto

the offering amounts to a reloadable card that, from the perspective of the merchant, is no different than any other Visa card, allowing them to be paid right away in their local currency. He added that many people in Latin America are already holding stablecoins as a hedge against volatility, and that Visa’s service will result in them becoming more widely used in day-to-day commerce.

“If you can figure out how to tie stablecoin spend with Visa’s off-ramp, that unlocks the case use,” said Birwadker.

This is hardly Visa’s first foray into the realm of crypto as the company, along with rival Mastercard, has for years made its so-called payment rails available to the likes of Crypto.com and other firms that offer cards tied to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. These products, however, have only gained niche adoption since Bitcoin is volatile and spending it can create tax obligations.

The new offering—which is also being rolled out in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile—stands out because it is being developed around non-volatile stablecoins, and for its open-ended design around Bridge’s technology.

Rolling out stablecoins at scale

Founded by Coinbase veterans Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, Bridge launched in 2023 as a service to supply APIs and other technology for building stablecoins. Acquired last October for $1.1 billion by payment giant Stripe, Bridge describes itself as a neutral service provider.

For Visa, tapping Bridge as a partner means it can offer the new stablecoin payment service to a wide variety of third parties that can build their own apps for consumers and merchants. The companies said they expect early efforts to feature the stablecoin USDC, which is backed by Circle and Coinbase, but that they expect to accommodate other stablecoins too, as well as a variety of blockchains.