Visa Targets Stablecoin Growth as Market Hits $269B, Up 62% YTD

Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, has predicted that the future of payments will see a convergence of traditional and digital currencies as the stablecoin market continues to expand. As of August 2025, the stablecoin market has reached $269 billion in total market capitalization, up 62% year-to-date [1]. Sheffield emphasized that rather than viewing stablecoins as a threat, Visa is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional financial systems and emerging digital assets [1]. The company has already settled over $200 million in cumulative stablecoin volume and has developed the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform, enabling financial institutions to issue and manage tokens on blockchain networks [1].

Sheffield’s team has expanded Visa’s stablecoin settlement business and formed partnerships with major banks on token issuance as well as fintech firms globally [1]. Notably, Spanish bank BBVA is preparing to launch a stablecoin on the Ethereum network through Visa’s platform [1]. The company has also partnered with Yellow Card Financial to bring stablecoin-based payments across 20 African countries [1].

Tether remains the dominant stablecoin with a $164 billion market cap, followed by USD Coin at $63.6 billion [1]. Ethena’s USDe has seen a 43.5% increase in market cap to $7.6 billion [1]. The passage of the GENIUS Act in July mandated that payment stablecoins be fully backed by cash or U.S. Treasuries, increasing corporate interest in the asset class [1]. Companies such as Western Union, Interactive Brokers, and Remitly are exploring stablecoin integration to modernize payment systems [1].

Meanwhile, Mastercard has partnered with Chainlink to allow over 3 billion cardholders to purchase crypto directly on-chain using secure fiat-to-crypto conversion [1]. The collaboration uses Chainlink’s interoperability infrastructure and Mastercard’s global network to power the Swapper Finance platform [1]. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser has also indicated the bank is considering launching its own stablecoin, projecting the market could grow from $260 billion today to $2 trillion by 2030 [1].

Stripe, another major player, has launched stablecoin payments in 70 countries and introduced Stablecoin Financial Accounts, enabling companies in 101 countries to hold and transact digital dollars [1]. The company is also developing a new blockchain called “Tempo” in collaboration with Paradigm, aiming to attract Fortune 500 clients [1]. Stripe has acquired Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, for $1.1 billion, as well as crypto wallet developer Privy [1]. The platform is expected to compete with existing stablecoin projects, including USDC, through a planned partnership with MetaMask to launch “MetaMask USD” [1].

Despite the optimism, JPMorgan has expressed skepticism, forecasting stablecoin market capitalization to only reach $500 billion by 2028 [1]. The bank attributed the slower growth to weak mainstream adoption and limited use beyond crypto trading [1]. However, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has acknowledged that 99% of stablecoin market capitalization is tied to the U.S. dollar and sees the potential for stablecoins to reinforce the dollar’s global dominance [1].

Source: [1] ‘Future Will Be Combination of Traditional and Crypto Payments,’ Says Visa’s Crypto Chief as Stablecoin Market Hit $269B (https://cryptonews.com/news/future-will-be-combination-of-traditional-and-crypto-payments-says-visas-crypto-chief-as-stablecoin-market-hit-269b/)