Payment giants ramp up stablecoin competition

TLDR

Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and others are moving from pilots to full stablecoin platforms, directly challenging crypto?native issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).

1. Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase are preparing a consortium stablecoin platform and broader settlement networks that plug stablecoins into existing card rails.
2. These moves threaten incumbents margins but likely expand overall stablecoin usage, especially in B2B payments, remittances and payroll.
3. What matters next is which blockchains, regulatory regimes and specific stablecoins win integrations into these payment giants systems.

Deep Dive

1. New Platforms And Consortiums

Reports say Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are backing a shared stablecoin platform to enable faster, cheaper cross?border settlement, with a major US exchange also evaluating participation, likely Coinbase, according to multiple pieces on the new shared stablecoin platform and a Stripe, Visa and Mastercard joint platform.

A CoinsKid Community summary adds that Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase are forming a Stablecoin Consortium explicitly positioned to compete with Circle and Tether in issuing or distributing stablecoins for payments, not just trading, highlighting a Stablecoin Consortium.

Alongside card networks, remittance and fintech players are launching their own coins: MoneyGrams MGUSD on Stellar is live in the US and targeting 60 million customers worldwide, as detailed in the MoneyGram MGUSD launch. Revolut is seeking a US bank charter that includes stablecoin services inside an FDIC?insured bank app, per a Revolut stablecoin banking plan.

2. Impact On Existing Stablecoins

The stablecoin market is around 320 billion dollars, dominated by USDT and USDC, with USDT at roughly 59 percent share and USDC near 76 billion dollars in supply, according to a Paybis study.

News of payment giants platforms already hit sentiment toward Circle; one report notes Circles stock fell over 10 percent on fears its USDC moat could erode if incumbents with merchant reach issue or favor alternative coins, as described in a Circle competition recap.

At the same time, business usage is exploding: Paybis data shows stablecoins rising from 12 percent to 86 percent of its crypto volume since 2023, with roughly 98 percent of that driven by B2B payments, per the same Paybis study. That suggests the pie is growing fast, even if share shifts toward payment networks and banks.

3. Rails, Regulation And Winners To Watch

Mastercard has announced expanded settlement using regulated stablecoins such as USDC, Ripples RLUSD, SoFiUSD and Paxos?issued coins, with support across networks including Ethereum, Solana, Base and XRP Ledger, per a Mastercard stablecoin settlement update. Visa has grown its own pilot to 7 billion dollars in annualized volume across nine blockchains and 18 countries, according to the new shared stablecoin platform report.

On the regulatory and reserve side, Coinbase is backing the IQMM money market ETF, designed as a GENIUS Act?compliant reserve vehicle for stablecoins, as explained in a GENIUS Money Market ETF overview. This shows large players focusing not just on issuing or moving stablecoins, but on the underlying treasury infrastructure.

Chains already integrated into these programs, such as Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, Base, XRPL and newer settlement?focused chains like Tempo, are positioned to benefit from higher payment volumes if these initiatives scale.

Conclusion

Payment giants are no longer experimenting at the edges of crypto; they are building full stablecoin stacks that blend issuance, settlement, and reserves into existing global payment networks. That raises competitive pressure on incumbents like Tether and Circle, but it also validates stablecoins as core payment infrastructure and should expand real?world usage across B2B, remittances and payroll, especially on chains that secure early, large?scale integrations.