Visa Expands Stablecoin Pilot to 9 Blockchains, Hits $7B Run Rate

On April 29, 2026, Visa said it expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot from four to nine blockchains by adding Polygon, Base, Arc, Canton and Tempo. The pilot previously included Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Stellar.

Visa reported the program has grown about 50% quarter over quarter to an annualized volume of $7 billion. The company described the pilot as infrastructure that lets issuers and acquirers settle transactions across multiple blockchain networks instead of using only traditional payment rails.

Visa provided brief descriptions of each newly added chain. Arc, built by Circle, is focused on programmable money and real-time settlement. Base, developed by Coinbase, offers low-cost transaction finality. Canton provides privacy-preserving settlement for regulated institutions. Polygon is used for high-volume, low-fee stablecoin transfers. Tempo supports real-time stablecoin liquidity and settlement flows.

Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, commented in the announcement: “Our partners are building in a multi-chain world, and they expect their options to reflect that reality.”

Earlier in April, Visa launched a validator node on the Tempo blockchain alongside Stripe and Zodia Custody, a Standard Chartered subsidiary. By running a validator, Visa said it moved beyond settling transactions through Tempo to participating directly in transaction ordering and network security. Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s Head of Crypto, explained in the announcement: “We’ve spent years building our expertise in blockchain, and now we’re expanding that work by running critical blockchain infrastructure ourselves.”

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron wrote that the integration reflects how “stablecoins are moving into real world payments at scale.” Visa highlighted recent network activity showing Polygon handled roughly 35% of global USD stablecoin transfers over a seven-day period, about 168 million transfers in that span.

The pilot covers issuers and acquirers settling with their network connections, which places Visa at the infrastructure layer rather than the consumer-facing layer. Visa said wider adoption will depend on how quickly its banking and merchant partners add support for the new chains.

Visa is also expanding its Agentic Ready program, which lets banks test agent-initiated payments. The company said the program is rolling out to more than 85 partners across Asia Pacific and Latin America after an initial launch in Europe. Some industry figures, including Changpeng Zhao, have predicted agentic payments could be settled primarily through stablecoins.

Visa reported fiscal second-quarter 2026 net revenue of $11.2 billion, a 17% increase from the prior year driven by payments and cross-border volume growth. With nine integrated blockchains, a reported $7 billion annualized run rate and validator seats on at least two networks, Visa has increased its on-chain infrastructure presence.