Major payment networks Visa, Mastercard, and finance company Stripe are reportedly developing a joint stablecoin, likely pegged to the U.S. dollar. Sources familiar with the partnership indicate Coinbase is also exploring participation in the platform. This move follows significant acquisitions and blockchain expansions by the firms, entering a stablecoin market currently valued at approximately $325 billion.
A new stablecoin created by Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe will soon hit the cryptocurrency market, according to reports. The global payment platforms are said to be developing the joint stablecoin, likely pegged to the US dollar, according to sources familiar with the partnership.
The same sources also claim that Coinbase is looking into the possibility of participating in the stablecoin platform. The stablecoin market has become popular and important in the last two years, as digital assets become more normalized.
At the time of writing, the total stablecoin market cap is about $325 billion, according to CoinGecko data. The market is dominated by Tether’s USDT, at $115 billion.
Gen Z has emerged as the most promising users of cryptocurrency as of late, using stablecoins in particular to conduct daily transactions. Furthermore, several traditional investment firms and banks are now jumping onto the train.
This year, Western Union and SoFi Technologies announced their own projects. JPMorgan, Bank of America, and UBS are also big-name firms that are working on stablecoins.
Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge in late 2024 for $1.1 billion. Mastercard, which acquired BVNK earlier this year, said this week it plans to expand always-on stablecoin settlement.
In April, Visa announced it was expanding a settlement pilot to nine blockchains. The expansion added Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Arc, and Tempo to existing support for Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar.
