Recently, the U.S. Senate passed (the guidance and establishment of the U.S. Stablecoin National Innovation Act) (also known as the (GENIUS Act)), marking another important milestone in the clarification of U.S. regulation. Visa's Chief Strategy and Product Officer Jack Forestell published an article titled The potential genius of GENIUS on June 23, outlining Visa's views on the future of the stablecoin world. This aligns with the viewpoints of Visa CEO Ryan McInerney in an interview with CNBC.
Visa's perspective is very important, as one of the direct rulers of value transfer in the traditional fiat world, the so-called spring river water warms the duck first; they must have already seen everything and made corresponding preparations. Thus, we will extract Visa's viewpoints and combine them with some of my own thoughts to jointly explore the next stage of stablecoins.
(Visa CEO on GENIUS ACT: We've been embracing stablecoins)
1. A 'potential' important moment in payment history.
Jack Forestell, Visa:
For Visa, the (GENIUS Act) should be seen as a 'potential' important moment in payment history.
The reason it is termed 'potential' is that while stablecoins represent the opportunity to usher in the next age of digital programmable money, there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve true scalability.
Visa CEO Ryan McInerney also stated: 'Our world has not changed much due to the passage of the stablecoin bill; Visa has been preparing for stablecoins for years and is welcoming the arrival of the stablecoin world.'
Expanding new payment technologies is not easy; it requires building widespread trust with buyers, sellers, payers, and payees. Establishing this trust requires the accumulation of time and is rooted in a series of complex and intertwined functions. Through the collective action of these functions, security, reliability, safety, fraud protection, dispute resolution, ease of use, and ongoing innovation can be achieved.
For stablecoins to become part of the next generation of digital payment infrastructure, they need to be realized on three levels:
1. The Technology Layer.
There must be a strong, scalable, flexible, and open technological backbone capable of securely executing large-scale transactions and operating at high speed, with zero tolerance for failures, leaks, or violations.
Advancements in blockchain technology have provided promising solutions to this issue.
2. The Reserve Layer.
Trust must be established regarding the value and stability of exchange mediums.
Regulated, reserve-backed stablecoins provide a solution to this issue.
3. The Interface Layer.
There must be a ubiquitous interface layer where participants actively want to engage:
This layer must provide trust, rules, standards, security, and value for all parties involved in each transaction.
It must scale to cover billions of end participants.
It must provide users with a simple and convenient mechanism to convert value tokens into their chosen fiat currency (i.e., users must be able to use the value tokens they receive where they can and want to use them).
Stablecoin Infrastructure itself cannot solve the problem of the last layer; without solutions, stablecoins will not achieve widespread adoption and the vision of becoming a mainstream medium of value exchange.
If they cannot achieve widespread adoption, they will certainly be used to solve narrow payment issues, provide closed-loop solutions, and serve as the underlying infrastructure for wholesale currency flow markets and capital markets, but will not scale in mainstream payments.
Web3 Little Lawyer's thoughts here:
We can use blockchain, which has been validated over more than a decade, as the settlement layer, along with compliant stablecoins as the reserve layer, thus forming a stablecoin infrastructure. Likewise, the On/Off Ramp networks around the globe and the financial institutions serving fiat channels are equally important.
On this basis, we can achieve convenient exchanges between fiat and stablecoins to support numerous practical scenarios of stablecoin payments, solve the 'last mile' problem, and make stablecoins ubiquitous.
The several strategic layouts seen here can be summarized simply as:
Visa strategically invests in stablecoin infrastructure BVNK; BVNK subsequently connects with online/offline acquiring giants like Worldpay and cross-border SME acquiring solution providers like Lianlian Pay, while also combining its own capabilities such as Visa Direct and Account/Card products to achieve the last mile. Reference article: Web3 Payment Comprehensive Report: Web3 Transformation of Consumer Cross-Border Payments.
Circle issues its stablecoin USDC, co-founding with Coinbase, and then builds the Circle Payment Network with various global financial institutions—this is an important network for stablecoin infrastructure to achieve the last mile. Reference article: Circle Releases 'Stablecoin Payment Network' White Paper.
Stripe acquires Bridge and Privy to achieve stablecoin infrastructure capabilities; through Stripe's B2B2C strategy, it empowers B-end platforms like Shopify to achieve the last mile. Reference article: Stripe Acquires Bridge, Stripe Acquires Privy.
Ripple moves from the XRP blockchain to the RippleNet financial institution network, and then to the RLUSD stablecoin. Reference article: Ripple, XRP, RippleNet.
Paypal links its ecosystem through its issued stablecoin PYUSD with superapp applications like PayPal and Venmo to integrate its customer base, serving its 40 million users and enabling everyone to make payments as they wish.
At the beginning of the issuance of PYUSD, Paypal introduced its evolutionary thinking:
From the beginning, when Paypal was established, its responsibility was not only to facilitate payment implementation but also to introduce and spread a new technology—digital payments, which have now become integrated into our lives and are ubiquitous.
Although Paypal's launched stablecoin PYUSD is not as eye-catching, Paypal's previous successful experiences can provide guidance and novel insights for the launch of PYUSD stablecoin payments. Specifically, Paypal divides the evolution of Mass Adoption into three stages:
Cognitive Awakening (Awareness), the (GENIUS Act) is the best awakening;
Payment Utility (Utility), clearly we are currently at this stage;
Ubiquity (Ubiquity), more scenarios supporting stablecoin payments need to emerge, rather than clustering there to apply for stablecoin licenses.
Similarly, Visa's CEO mentioned in an interview that the capabilities needed to truly achieve payments align well with Paypal's evolutionary thinking.
Expanding new payment technologies is not easy; we need:
Trust (the support of thousands of financial institutions behind Visa)
Ease of use (front-end payment products like Visa Card, etc.)
Scalability (Visa's network of tens of millions of consumers and merchants)
The final stage of adopting any new payment technology is ubiquity, characterized by seamlessly integrating technology into daily life. At this stage, people can use new payment technologies effortlessly and without awareness—they just pay at will, just like we connect to the internet at will, without caring about the telecommunications operator's communication format behind it.
For users, this may have nothing to do with blockchain or stablecoins.
2. Visa will help solve this problem.
Jack Forestell, Visa:
Visa has built the largest, most secure, most trusted, and most recognized third-layer payment system globally. Visa has invested billions of dollars in continuous improvements, enhancing its compatibility with underlying transaction mediums and allowing parties to easily and flexibly integrate into the Visa ecosystem.
By integrating Visa's infrastructure, services, and connections, Visa provides a seamless and secure digital payment experience for billions of buyers and sellers worldwide, with unparalleled scale, reliability, and security. Visa refers to this powerful combination as the 'Visa as a Service' stack.
From the smallest sellers to the largest banks and enterprises, when the world needs to expand payment solutions, they all choose the Visa stack. Cryptocurrency-native partners are no exception. For years, Visa has been working with leading cryptocurrency and stablecoin participants and platforms to provide access to the Visa stack and achieve the resulting massive expansion of payments.
Since 2020, Visa has facilitated nearly $95 billion in cryptocurrency purchases and over $25 billion in cryptocurrency spending—totaling over $100 billion in capital flow.
Global consumers and businesses view 4.8 billion Visa credentials and nearly 14 billion Visa digital tokens as the best payment methods, and the best ways for everyone, everywhere to receive payments. Visa's technology stack provides an excellent payment experience and will continue to invest to make it the most advanced, secure, and convenient payment method.
Through Visa's capabilities, users no longer need to ask themselves the following questions before shopping:
Will the merchant accept my payment?
Do I need a dedicated wallet to make a payment?
Do I have the right type of currency in my wallet? Am I on the right blockchain?
What is the Gas Fee for this payment?
Can I keep my privacy? Once I purchase something from a merchant, can others see all my transaction records and addresses without my permission?
Can I get rewards?
How do I use my credit limit?
If I encounter a problem, who should I talk to?
Is it safe?
The vast majority of consumers and businesses will continue to use fiat currency for payments and enjoy the convenience brought by Visa credentials. The same goes for stablecoin-driven solutions connected to the Visa stack.
Web3 Little Lawyer's thoughts here:
The core point Visa wants to express here is: even if you have the infrastructure capabilities of stablecoins, having the capability is far from enough; we can also help you achieve scalability through the Visa ecosystem and Visa's capabilities—this is the core.
(Visa CEO on GENIUS ACT: We've been embracing stablecoins)
But just like Walmart and Amazon are reporting that they are also considering issuing their own stablecoins, if these huge companies can bypass the Visa/Mastercard settlement network, they could save on massive payment intermediary fees, significantly enhancing their profitability.
This is a question Visa cannot avoid.
As stated in the previous article (Web3 Payment Comprehensive Report: How Stablecoins Will Evolve in 2025):
The transaction fees of the current payment system directly erode the profits of most businesses; reducing these fees will provide significant profit margins for businesses. The first shoe has dropped: Stripe announced they will charge a 1.5% fee for stablecoin payments, which is 30% lower than the fees they charge for credit card payments.
For convenience, this assessment assumes that businesses pay a 1.6% blended payment processing fee/cost, and the currency acceptance cost is very low.
Walmart's annual revenue is $648 billion, potentially paying $10 billion in credit card fees, with a profit of $15.5 billion. Calculate: eliminating payment fees and Walmart's profitability, thus its valuation (not considering other factors) can increase by over 60% just through cheaper payment solutions.
Chipotle is a rapidly growing fast food chain with annual revenue of $9.8 billion. It makes an annual profit of $1.2 billion, with credit card fees at $148 million. By simply reducing payment fees, Chipotle's profitability could increase by 12%—an astonishing figure that cannot be obtained elsewhere in its balance sheet.
Krogers, a national grocery store, has the lowest profit margin, thus earning the most. Surprisingly, Krogers' net income and payment costs may be nearly equal. Like many grocery stores, its profit margin is below 2%, lower than the costs businesses incur for credit card payments. With stablecoin payments, Krogers' profits could double.
(How stablecoins will eat payments, and what happens next, a16z)
3. What problems can stablecoins solve?
Jack Forestell is often asked, 'What problem do stablecoins actually solve?'
In this regard, he stated that first, stablecoins have perfectly found Product Market Fit in the cryptocurrency trading market, and for some use cases, including emerging markets, stablecoins still represent significant opportunities. Specifically:
In small currencies, high inflation, and remittance-challenged countries, users want to hold dollars but cannot easily obtain them.
For certain cross-border fund flow use cases, such as C2C personal remittances or B2B enterprise payments.
Tether CEO: Less than 40% of Tether's market value is related to the cryptocurrency market. In other words, over 60% of market value growth actually comes from USDT's grassroots usage in emerging markets. The next driving force behind USDT's market value growth may come from commodity trading.
Visa sees these use cases as new processes that have yet to be fully resolved, providing avenues for Visa's business growth. To this end, Visa plans to collaborate closely with stablecoin-native partners, platforms, and our financial institution partners to fully leverage the powerful capabilities of the Visa stack.
Currently, in developed markets like the U.S., it is unclear whether consumers and businesses are willing to use stablecoins for payments, as there are already many competitive options that allow direct payments using 'digital dollars' from bank accounts.
(GENIUS Act) has brought practical regulatory clarity to stablecoins, opening up potential pathways for further applications. Visa has been actively developing various solutions in the stablecoin field, including:
Deploy Visa credentials and Visa digital tokens to connect stablecoins and cryptocurrency platforms and their users with fiat currencies and our global network.
Provide local stablecoin settlement.
Cross-border fund flow solutions through stablecoin infrastructure.
Providing customers with programmable currency solutions.
And more are under development.
Of course, it will take time for stablecoins to truly become geniuses—we are only just beginning.
Web3 Little Lawyer's thoughts here:
Visa's CEO clearly stated that there is a misunderstanding among the public regarding stablecoins: because the current stablecoins are all dollar-pegged, everyone naturally assumes that the U.S. is the primary region for stablecoin application. However, the true usage scenarios for stablecoins, or Product Market Fit, are actually in regions outside the U.S., which we refer to as the Global South. There are approximately 30-50 countries here, and the access to stablecoins can significantly enhance financial efficiency.
Tether's CEO previously confirmed this point in an interview with Bankless:
The United States is one of the most efficient markets for capital flow globally, with financial channels achieving up to 90% efficiency. The introduction of stablecoins could potentially increase that efficiency from 90% to 95%, with very limited premium space. In contrast, in other parts of the world, introducing stablecoins could provide a 30%-40% increase in financial efficiency. Therefore, stablecoins hold greater significance for these countries.
Therefore, in these markets, it is difficult for Visa to reach. In our previous article (Web3 Payment Comprehensive Report: Web3 Transformation of Consumer Cross-Border Payments), we can see that the choices of payment methods vary in different countries. Interested readers can take a closer look.
Germany: Consumers are least willing to use credit or debit cards (only 32%) but prefer digital app payment services (49%) and bank transfers or wire transfers (35%). This might be because consumers value the security and ease of use of payments, as emphasized in the (2022 Western Europe Online Payment Methods) report.
Philippines: Consumers prefer digital app payment methods (49%), which may relate to the fact that 48.2% of consumers cannot access traditional banking systems.
Similarly, we can see in Worldpay's 2025 report that the penetration of Visa/Mastercard in major economies in Africa—such as Nigeria—is very low. Cash remains king offline.
(GPR 2025: the past, present and future of payments, WorldPay)
This is where Tether's strength lies. While the Global North is in an arms race, Tether has already penetrated deeply into the Global South.
As there are still 3 billion people globally without bank accounts, and Tether currently covers 450 million users, the opportunities here are immense, and it is crucial to differentiate between various stablecoin products and application scenarios.
Deep penetration into Asia, Africa, and Latin America, investing in infrastructure, this innovative distribution channel and deep penetration into emerging markets are key to Tether's leading position in the stablecoin field. Tether is not only technologically advanced but has also established an unprecedented dollar distribution network globally, which is one of Tether's least recognized advantages.
If Circle turned around after going public and found itself surrounded by competitors from traditional finance and industrial giants.
So Tether's competitors come from the East's 'Belt and Road':)
(Tether CEO's understanding of the next stage of stablecoins)
