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Visa is turning the crypto dial up a notch
Visa says it’s expanding its data offering for blockchain lenders, pairing settlement data with onchain lending infrastructure. Translation: it’s trying to give lenders a clearer picture of how digital-asset-focused fintechs and card issuers are actually performing.
Why this matters
Stablecoin-linked cards are no longer some weird side quest. Visa says it now has more than 160 of these programs live for issuers and program managers, which is up nearly 200% year over year. That’s a pretty loud clue that demand is real, not just crypto Twitter cosplay.
For investors, the takeaway is simple: Visa is collecting more tolls as stablecoin payments move from niche experiment toward actual business line. That could mean more usage, more issuer activity, and more relevance in the next phase of digital payments.
Big picture
Visa doesn’t need to become a crypto company to profit from crypto. It just needs to be the plumbing everyone else uses — and plumbing tends to be very hard to uninstall.