Visa said Tuesday morning it will give blockchain lenders a closer look at how digital asset card programs are performing, by integrating its settlement datasets directly with onchain lending infrastructure. The goal is to help lenders assess the financial health of crypto-focused fintechs and card issuers and, in turn, move borrowing along faster for those businesses.
The demand story is big: Visa currently operates over 160 stablecoin-linked card programs serving issuers and program managers, representing a nearly 200% increase from a year ago as more crypto companies debut cards. "Stablecoin-linked cards are in hypergrowth mode," said Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, in a CNBC interview, noting that new issuers - ranging from stablecoin neobanks to fintech firms - are coming onboard and rolling out cards weekly. To meet that surge and the need for capital, he said Visa is setting up partnerships so new issuers can tap financing programs via smart contracts and onchain credit.
"We've been running a pilot with a company called Credit Coop that is enabling a credit facility for stablecoin-linked card providers, which we think is a positive step forward for how onchain credit can start to come into our network," Sheffield said. Credit Coop reports $2.7 billion in total volume processed through smart contracts on its platform and says no borrower has ever defaulted.
In the last six years, onchain lending protocols have facilitated nearly $700 billion in stablecoin-denominated loans, Visa said. Much of that activity still sits inside crypto markets, but Visa says offering lenders clearer operational data on businesses can make it easier to evaluate financing opportunities.
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Last year's GENIUS Act put U.S. stablecoin rules in place and accelerated adoption. Sheffield called the legislation a "huge" turning point. "We're seeing banks, we're seeing some of the largest payment companies in the world that are coming to us that want to be able to engage and work with Visa, leveraging stablecoins within our existing products or build new products together with them," he said.
In July, Visa rolled out its stablecoin platform to manage settlements, broaden stablecoin-linked card programs, and enable financial institutions to tap new digital-asset capabilities. Traditional rival Mastercard is investing in stablecoins too and operates a platform of its own. PayPal and Circle run platforms as well.
If lenders can underwrite using real settlement data, more stablecoin card programs could get funded and scale faster, changing how everyday cards get financed behind the scenes. For context, Visa shares are up roughly 7% this year. A morning snapshot showed 370.95, down 1.10% at 10:27 AM EDT. The next thing to watch: whether cleaner data and onchain credit facilities turn into more issuers, more cards and steadier funding for the companies building them.
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