According to Woofun AI, the annualized scale of the Visa (V.US) stablecoin settlement business has surpassed $25 billion, and this figure has grown by about 10 times in one year. CEO Ryan McInerney clarified during the results conference call on Tuesday (October 27) that the figure is unrelated to the low double-digit revenue growth guide for FY2027; it refers to recent volume multiplied by an annualized operating rate (run rate) of 12, rather than the actual average of the past 12 months.
Currently, Visa's settlement network supports five types of stablecoins and operates on 10 blockchains. The number of the latter is double that of the previous year, marking the deep penetration of traditional payment giants at the level of cryptographic infrastructure. However, according to analysts, $25 billion is only about 0.14% of Visa's quarterly payments, and the 10-fold growth rate is based on a volume that is still in a small base.
In terms of the specific token ecosystem layout, Visa has adopted a strict neutral position. McInerney made it clear that the company treated USDC, PayPal (PYPL.US) dollar token (PYUSD), global dollar (USDG), Euro stablecoin (EURC) issued by Circle (CRCL.US), and SBC issued by Brale equally, without favoring any single asset or blockchain.
Notably, Visa is also a member of the Open USD Alliance, and its associated token Open USD (OUSD) is deeply tied to the real-time payment product Flex Credential. According to data compiled by Woofun AI, as of October 15, OUSD's circulation volume has exceeded 800 million US dollars, and plans to further integrate it into the Visa Direct real-time fund transfer platform. The Open USD Alliance is viewed by some media as a direct competitor to USDC, which has some tension with Visa's asserted neutrality.
Furthermore, Visa's number of stablecoin-related card projects increased by more than 70% in one year to 225, corresponding to about 5 million cards, and transaction volume increased by more than 150% in more than 50 countries. Currently, the stablecoin platform has been put into operation in six markets, including the US, Mexico, and the UK, and more than 300 partners are waiting in line to access it.
Judging from the competitive landscape, Visa is striving to become the preferred platform for banks to obtain stablecoin services, which means that competition between tokens will be internalized within the Visa network rather than unfolding in a disorderly manner outside the network. However, this strategic vision faces potential challenges: if banks and issuers choose to bypass the credit card network and settle directly on the blockchain, Visa's value proposition as the middle tier will face restructuring.
This possibility of disintermediation will be a key variable in determining the long-term ceiling of its stablecoin business.