Visa announced Wednesday the expansion of its global stablecoin settlement pilot to encompass nine blockchain networks in total, as its blockchain infrastructure hits a $7 billion annualized run rate, marking a 50% increase quarter over quarter.
The new participants—Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, and Tempo—address specific settlement requirements, Visa disclosed. Both Polygon and Base, incubated by Coinbase, are Ethereum scaling networks. Meanwhile, Arc from Circle and Stripe’s Tempo focus on layer-1 chains for stablecoins and payments, while Canton offers customizable privacy features for institutions.
These additions join existing support for Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar, forming a comprehensive multi-chain settlement layer.
The pilot’s swift expansion signals growing institutional adoption of blockchain payment systems. Visa reported that its stablecoin settlement volume surged from about $4.7 billion to $7 billion on an annualized basis within one quarter.
Visa’s stablecoin ecosystem extends beyond merely settlement infrastructure, managing over 130 stablecoin-linked card programs in more than 50 countries, integrating digital assets with conventional payment networks.
“Our partners are constructing solutions in a multi-chain environment and expect their options to mirror this reality,” stated Visa Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships Rubail Birwadker. “Expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot program to encompass more blockchains allows our partners to select the networks that best meet their needs while relying on Visa for a unified settlement layer across all of them.”
Arc, Tempo, and Canton are newer blockchain participants, with Visa providing support to each. Visa serves as a design partner for Arc and has recently become a validator for both Tempo and Canton.