Visa | Crypto

Visa has partnered with crypto infrastructure company Aquanow to expand stablecoin settlement across the CEMEA region, cutting cross-border costs and friction. Visa is expanding its use of stablecoins for settlement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) through a new partnership with crypto infrastructure company Aquanow. In an announcement Thursday, Visa said it partnered with Aquanow “to settle transactions using approved stablecoins such as USDC, reducing costs, operational friction, and settlement times.” The company said the move came amid strong demand from banks and payment companies for faster, cheaper cross-border payments. The move aims to leverage stablecoins to digitize the back end of money movement and to enable 24/7 settlement. Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s head of product and solutions for the CEMEA region, said the integration will allow institutions in the region “to experience faster and simpler settlements.” Read more

Tangem Pay enables users to spend Circle’s USDC stablecoin worldwide through a virtual Visa card that connects directly to Tangem’s self-custodial hardware wallet. Cryptocurrency wallet company Tangem has launched Tangem Pay, a virtual Visa card connecting directly to the hardware wallet and allowing users to spend stablecoins at millions of merchants worldwide. Launched in collaboration with US payment infrastructure company Paera, Tangem Pay enables users to deposit and spend Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoin on the Polygon network, Tangem said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Wednesday. “Once the user deposits into their Tangem Pay account, they can spend anywhere Visa is accepted, regardless of the local currency,” Tangem Pay CEO Marcos Nunes said, adding that the solution supports Apple Pay and Google Pay for instant Visa payments. Read more

Circle's Arc blockchain testnet goes live with BlackRock, Visa, and 100+ companies—aiming to be the internet's financial operating system.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) has launched the public testnet for Arc, its open Layer-1 blockchain designed to bring more economic activity onchain. The post Circle Launches Arc Testnet With BlackRock, Visa, and AWS — A New Era for Onchain Finance? appeared first on Cryptonews.

Circle’s new Arc blockchain testnet launches with participation from more than 100 institutions, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Visa and Mastercard. Circle, the world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer, launched the public testnet for Arc, its open layer-1 blockchain network built to bring global financial infrastructure onchain. The rollout, which Circle calls the “Economic Operating System for the internet,” includes participation from over 100 major companies spanning banking, capital markets and fintech — among them BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard and State Street, according to a Tuesday announcement. “With Arc’s public testnet, we’re seeing remarkable early momentum as leading companies, protocols, and projects begin to build and test,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said. “Combined, these companies reach billions of users, move, exchange, and custody hundreds of trillions in assets and payments,” he added. Read more

Visa, Mastercard, tech firms and banking institutions are all exploring ways of using blockchain technology for payments and settlement. Payment company Visa expanded stablecoin offerings on its settlement platform by adding support for Global Dollar (USDG), PayPal USD (PYUSD), Euro Coin (EURC) and two new blockchain networks, Stellar and Avalanche. The integration allows users to send and receive stablecoin payments through the supported blockchain networks or convert their balances to traditional fiat currency, Visa said in a press release on Thursday. Visa already offered support to Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, while supported networks for transfer and settlement include Ethereum, Solana and the newly added chains. Read more

Yellow Card plans to roll out stablecoin payments with Visa in at least one African country this year amid a trend driven partly by limited access to US dollars. Credit card giant Visa has partnered with Yellow Card Financial, an African stablecoin payments provider, to accelerate the adoption of digital dollars across the continent, underscoring the growing synergy between traditional payment networks and cryptocurrency solutions. The two companies have signed an agreement to promote stablecoin use for cross-border payments in emerging markets where Yellow Card operates, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Yellow Card will launch stablecoin transactions with Visa in at least one African country this year, with additional rollouts expected in 2026. Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card, said the collaboration will focus on enhancing treasury operations, improving liquidity management and enabling more cost-effective money transfers. Read more

Visa and Chainlink have completed a key milestone in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) e-HKD+ Pilot Programme, successfully testing a cross-border blockchain transaction using central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stablecoins. The trial, conducted in partnership with ANZ, ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International, is one of the first real-world simulations of programmable money being used […] The post Visa, Chainlink successfully complete CBDC, stablecoin swap between Hong Kong, Australia appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Nikola Plecas joins TON Foundation to lead its global payments strategy as the network scales for Telegram’s massive user base. The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation) appointed former Visa executive Nikola Plecas as its new vice president of payments. Plecas will be responsible for shaping and executing TON’s payment infrastructure strategy, the company said in a May 28 blog post. He is tasked with expanding the network’s capabilities, managing financial partnerships and ensuring compliance across jurisdictions as the foundation scales services for over 1 billion Telegram users. Read more

Tether USD (USDT) has surpassed $150 billion in circulating supply amid stablecoins averaging over $521 billion in weekly transfer volumes in 2025, The metrics posted by the leading stablecoin are well above the combined weekly volumes of Visa and PayPal, which averaged $319 billion and $32 billion, respectively. Tether described the milestone as the culmination […] The post USDT supply surpasses $150 billion as stablecoins outpace mainstream giants Visa, PayPal appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Visa invests in London-based stablecoin payment startup BVNK through its Visa Ventures arm, marking another step in its growing involvement in crypto. Payments behemoth Visa has invested in BVNK, a London-based startup focused on stablecoin payment infrastructure, signaling continued interest in digital asset innovation. According to a May 7 BVNK announcement, the startup “secured a strategic investment from Visa through their Visa Ventures arm.” Furthermore, while the company does not explain fully what it entails, it refers to the investment as “more than capital” and describes it as a partnership. The company’s CEO, Jesse Hemson-Struthers, wrote: Rubail Birwadker, head of products and partnerships at Visa, explained that “stablecoins are fast becoming a part of global payment flows.” He said that Visa invests in new technologies and builders, such as BVNK, who are involved in “what’s next in commerce to better serve our clients and partners.” Read more