🤑 Visa’s Stablecoin Shenanigans: Instant Cash or Financial Farce? 🌍

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Ah, behold! The grand Visa, in its infinite wisdom, hath unveiled a pilot most audacious, allowing banks and financial institutions to pre-fund cross-border payments with stablecoins. 🪙✨ A marvel of modernity, or a mere jest at the expense of tradition? Pray, let us delve into this farce!

At the illustrious SIBOS 2025, Visa proclaimed its stablecoin pilot, a scheme wherein select partners may employ Circle’s USDC and EURC as pre-funded assets for near-instant payouts. “Cross-border payments,” declared Chris Newkirk, the grand president of commercial and money movement solutions, “have languished in antiquated systems for far too long!” 😤🤣

The aim, they say, is to diminish the need for capital to be idly parked and to modernize treasury operations. “Visa Direct’s stablecoin integration,” Newkirk added with a flourish, “paves the way for money to traverse the globe with instantaneous grace, granting businesses the liberty to pay as they please!” 🌐💸

Visa’s Pilot: A Stablecoin Masquerade for Global Payouts

This pilot, designed for banks, remittance services, and financial institutions, seeks to optimize liquidity. Instead of binding fiat currencies across myriad corridors, participants may fund Visa Direct with stablecoins, which Visa, in its magnanimity, treats as cash equivalents. A clever ruse, or a stroke of genius? 🤔🎭

Stablecoin pre-funding, they claim, shall unlock working capital, mitigate exposure to currency volatility, and enhance predictability in treasury flows, especially during those hours when traditional systems slumber. 🌙💤

Visa boasts of settling over $225 million in stablecoin volume to date, though this remains but a pittance compared to its $16 trillion in annual payments. The pilot, alas, is confined to partners who meet Visa’s stringent criteria, with a broader rollout promised in 2026. 🕰️🚀

CryptoMoon, ever the intrepid seeker of truth, sought comment from Visa, but alas, none was forthcoming by publication. 📰🤷

Swift’s Blockchain Ambition: A Rivalry Most Intriguing

Visa’s foray into stablecoins for cross-border payments cometh but a day after Swift announced its collaboration with Ethereum developer Consensys and over 30 financial institutions to craft a blockchain-based settlement platform. A 24/7 real-time payments utopia, they say! 🌉⛓️

Crypto payment firms, too, have garnered attention. RedotPay, a stablecoin payments startup, achieved unicorn status after raising $47 million in a round led by Coinbase Ventures, with support from Galaxy Ventures and Vertex Ventures. 🦄💰

And let us not forget Bastion, a stablecoin infrastructure startup, which raised $14.6 million in a round led by Coinbase Ventures, with backing from Sony, Samsung Next, Andreessen Horowitz, and Hashed. A veritable feast of investment! 🎉🤑

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2025-09-30 11:48