Welcome to the sixth edition of stative.

Man, there really is so much going on in the stablecoin space - for someone like me, doing this as a hobby on the side - it almost becomes hard to keep the pace. Don’t get me wrong: I am loving this and consider it a good thing 🥳

This is why this time I picked a topic that was / is relevant in the news but not a daily headline: the history and current strategies for stablecoins of the world’s two biggest payment players Mastercard and Visa.

Let’s see what they have in store for us 🧑‍💻

Market overview

• Market cap climbs from one all-time high to another

• Trading volume crumbled by almost 80% from last edition

Interesting news

• Has Ripple Raised Its Circle Acquisition Bid to $20B?

• Coinbase and PayPal have teamed up to make the payment giant's stablecoin, PayPal USD, easier to buy and use.

• Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is preparing to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin as soon as this year.

• Trump's stablecoin chosen for $2 billion Abu Dhabi investment in Binance

Stablecoin Chess: How Visa and Mastercard Are Playing to Win the Future of Payments

Visa and Mastercard, the stalwarts of global payments, are now navigating the burgeoning world of stablecoins. With stablecoin transactions reaching $27.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing the combined volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%, it’s evident that digital assets are reshaping the financial landscape. Let’s explore how these payment titans are adapting.

📜 A Historical Perspective: From Skepticism to Integration

Visa’s Journey:

• March 2021: Visa announced support for USD Coin (USDC), enabling the cryptocurrency to be used for settlement within its payment network.

• 2023: Visa expanded its crypto initiatives by integrating USDC on the Solana blockchain to facilitate merchant payments.

Mastercard’s Path:

• July 2021: Mastercard enhanced its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, simplifying the conversion of cryptocurrency to fiat currency.

• 2023: Mastercard collaborated with various crypto companies to integrate crypto services into its network, signaling a shift from caution to active participation.

Looks like Visa was slightly ahead on making headline around the topic of stablecoins in 2021.

🔥 Recent Developments heating up the Game

Visa’s Initiatives:

• April 2025: Partnered with Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure startup acquired by Stripe, to launch stablecoin-linked Visa cards in Latin America. This move enables users to make everyday purchases with stablecoins, bridging the gap between digital assets and traditional commerce.

• Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP): Introduced to help banks manage fiat-backed tokens and stablecoins, facilitating the integration of digital assets into existing financial systems.

Mastercard’s Endeavors:

• April 2025: Unveiled end-to-end capabilities to power stablecoin transactions from wallets to checkouts, partnering with OKX and Nuvei. This initiative allows consumers to spend stablecoins and merchants to receive them seamlessly.

These developments align with evolving regulatory frameworks:

• Europe’s MiCA Regulation: Effective from December 2024, providing a standardized regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers across the EU.

• U.S. GENIUS Act: Passed the Senate Banking Committee in March 2025, aiming to create a dual-registration framework for stablecoin issuers, signaling growing bipartisan support for stablecoin adoption.

🧭 Strategic Summaries - What goals are they navigating towards?

Visa:

• Approach: Integrating stablecoins into existing payment infrastructures, leveraging partnerships to facilitate stablecoin usage in everyday transactions.

• Objective: Enhance scalability and global reach, making stablecoins more accessible and integrated with conventional financial tools.

Mastercard:

• Approach: Providing comprehensive solutions for stablecoin transactions, from wallets to checkouts, focusing on interoperability and user experience.

• Objective: Build a robust ecosystem through strategic partnerships, driving stablecoin adoption by offering seamless and user-friendly experiences.

🔮 Outlook: What will it might take to succeed in the Stablecoin Space

As stablecoins continue to gain traction, Visa and Mastercard’s strategies reflect their commitment to adapting and leading in this new era of digital finance. Their success will depend on:

• Regulatory Clarity: Navigating and complying with evolving regulations to ensure trust and stability.

• Merchant Adoption: Encouraging businesses to accept stablecoins, expanding their usability.

• User Experience: Providing seamless and intuitive interfaces for consumers to interact with stablecoins.

In this dynamic landscape, both companies are poised to play pivotal roles in shaping the future of payments.

💰Budgets & Capabilities

Visa and Mastercard both operate with multi-billion-dollar annual revenues (Visa: ~$33B, Mastercard: ~$25B in FY2023). That means both have the capital to compete aggressively in the stablecoin space — from funding internal innovation and acquisitions (e.g., Visa with Bridge via Stripe) to lobbying for regulatory clarity and onboarding large-scale merchant networks.

However, Visa has historically outspent Mastercard on tech infrastructure, and its crypto integrations (e.g., with Solana and USDC as early as 2021) show it’s willing to move fast and globally. Mastercard, meanwhile, tends to lean into “orchestrator” roles, investing in broader interoperability and compliance layers (like their Multi-Token Network and focus on wallet-to-checkout flows).

In short: Visa is more payment-rail driven, Mastercard is more platform-ecosystem driven — which does affect where and how they spend.

🔍Different Niches or Head-On Collision?

In the short term, they’re tackling different angles:

• Visa is building on direct payment utility and merchant rails, enabling stablecoins as spendable currencies across its cards and networks.

• Mastercard is investing more in end-to-end digital asset infrastructure, enabling not just payments but also issuance, acceptance, and wallet integration — almost like a middleware layer for stablecoins.

So far, they’ve taken complementary approaches, not direct competition.

Long-term, though, if stablecoins become a dominant payment layer (especially for remittances, e-commerce, or B2B settlement), they’ll likely collide head-on, competing for:

• Issuer and wallet integrations

• Network fees on stablecoin settlement

• Institutional and merchant partnerships

🤔Closing thoughts

As stablecoins inch closer to mainstream adoption, will Visa’s rails-first strategy or Mastercard’s ecosystem play prove more resilient — or are we about to witness a full-blown rematch of the card wars in digital form? The race is on — and the rules are still being written.

Thanks for reading in 🤍

// Kai