Visa climbs 3.7% on stablecoin settlement trial with Brale

Visa Inc. is testing stablecoin settlement on a privacy-focused blockchain, a move that could expand how the world's largest payments network processes institutional transactions.

Visa (V) and Brale launched a proof-of-concept to settle payments using SBC, a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Brale, on the Canton Network, the companies said Thursday. Shares rose 3.66 percent to $323.82, adding roughly $18 billion to Visa's market capitalization, as investors bet the trial opens a new revenue stream from digital settlement fees.

"Stablecoin settlement has shown how blockchain infrastructure can improve the speed and efficiency of money movement," Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, said. "Through our work with Brale, we're exploring how SBC on the Canton Network can support institutional settlement use cases that require both programmability and privacy controls."

The Canton Network, a public blockchain launched in 2023, allows financial institutions to transact on shared infrastructure while limiting visibility of sensitive transaction data — a feature most public blockchains lack. SBC is natively supported on Canton, enabling Brale and Visa to test how privacy-preserving infrastructure applies to real-world institutional payment flows. Visa began enabling stablecoin settlement in 2021 and now operates across nine blockchain platforms including Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche. Its stablecoin settlement program reached a $7 billion annualized run rate in April, up 50 percent from the prior quarter.

Why privacy matters for institutional stablecoin adoption

The trial addresses a structural tension in blockchain-based finance: public ledgers expose transaction details that institutions consider confidential. Unlike Ethereum or Solana, where any wallet can trace payment flows, Canton's architecture lets participants control data visibility. For Visa, which processed more than $12 trillion in total payment volume in fiscal 2025, adding a privacy-compliant stablecoin option could unlock settlement flows from banks and payment companies that have avoided public blockchains due to compliance concerns.

Brale, founded by former Dwolla chief executive Ben Milne, provides regulated stablecoin infrastructure covering issuance, minting, redemption, and compliance controls through a modular API platform. "Financial institutions are increasingly looking for stablecoin infrastructure that meets their operational, regulatory, and privacy requirements," Milne said.

Stablecoin supply nears $300 billion as adoption accelerates

The total supply of dollar-backed stablecoins is approaching $300 billion, with Tether's USDT accounting for about $188 billion and Circle's USDC at roughly $76 billion. Visa's trial positions SBC as a potential addition to its settlement ecosystem, competing indirectly with USDC, which Circle has already integrated with Visa for select use cases. The broader stablecoin market has grown more than 40 percent year-over-year, driven by demand for faster cross-border payments and on-chain settlement.

For Visa, the financial stakes are clear. Each basis point of take rate on institutional settlement flows represents hundreds of millions in annual revenue. The company's existing stablecoin program already processes $7 billion in annualized volume, and adding a privacy-focused option on Canton could expand that addressable market to include regulated banks and asset managers that require confidential transaction processing. Visa trades at roughly 22 times forward earnings, a premium to the S&P 500's 19 times, reflecting its consistent margin profile and growing digital payments business.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.