In another major move of traditional finance moving onto the blockchain, Visa has started allowing US banks and payment partners to settle transactions using USDC, a dollar-backed stablecoin. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank are among the first institutions to use USDC settlement with Visa, which is done on the Solana blockchain. A wider rollout is planned in 2026.
Tailor-made for financial markets
The Solana blockchain offers fast transaction finality and high throughput, which supports institutional settlement volumes. Many analysts contend that Solana is “tailor-made for financial markets” and will be among the top benefactors of TradFi moving on-chain.
Visa said its blockchain move aims to enable faster fund transfers and seven-day settlement windows for participating banks. The company reported an annualized stablecoin settlement volume run rate exceeding US$3.5 billion as of November 2025.
As reported by Coindesk:
“The new option is meant to give banks and fintechs near-instant funds movement, seven-day-a-week settlement and more predictable liquidity around weekends and holidays, while keeping the consumer card experience unchanged…
The new U.S. rollout is aimed at financial institutions, fintechs and treasury teams looking to modernize settlement flows, tighten liquidity management and build programmable money-movement products that bridge legacy banking systems with blockchain-based infrastructure.”
Visa’s global head of growth products and strategic partnerships stated, “Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking for it – they’re preparing to use it.”