Visa Tests On-Chain Stablecoin Payouts for the Creator and Freelance Economy

• Visa has introduced a stablecoin payout pilot designed to simplify payments for businesses and digital creators.
• This comes after the company revealed plans to integrate four stablecoins across four separate blockchains on its settlement platform.

Visa, the global payments technology company founded in 1958, has launched a new pilot program that enables businesses to send USD-backed stablecoin payouts directly to digital wallets for creators, freelancers, and gig workers.

Announced at Web Summit, the initiative aims to make payments faster, more flexible, and accessible across borders.

According to a press release, businesses using Visa Direct can fund payouts in traditional fiat currency, while recipients have the option to receive their funds in USD-backed stablecoins such as USDC.

This is designed to support workers in markets facing currency volatility or limited banking infrastructure, giving them better control and reliability in how they receive payments. Chris Newkirk, President Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, Visa, explained:

Visa’s 2025 Economy Report sheds light on the challenges and priorities of the growing creator economy.

According to the report, 26% of creators said that payment delays negatively affected their content production, highlighting how timing can directly impact productivity and revenue streams. 30% of respondents expressed a desire for card features that provide faster access to their earned funds, while 57% of creators identified instant access to funds as their primary motivation for adopting digital payment methods.

In another initiative in Visa’s exploration of stablecoin-powered payments, Visa Direct launched a pilot program at SIBOS in September. The pilot programs allow businesses to pre-fund payouts using stablecoins, thereby increasing financial accessibility for both Visa’s corporate clients and its consumers worldwide.

Visa’s Crypto and Stablecoin Footprint

As mentioned in our previous news story, Visa announced an expansion of its digital‑asset settlement infrastructure by adding support for four new stablecoins across four blockchains: Stellar (XLM), Avalanche (AVAX), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL).

CNF also confirmed in another news coverage that since 2020, Visa’s platform has processed over $140 billion in crypto and stablecoin flows, including $100 billion in digital asset purchases and $35 billion in on-chain spending through Visa credentials.

The company already supports leading stablecoins such as USDC and Circle’s euro-backed EURC. It now operates more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs in 40 countries, maintaining an annualized settlement run rate of over $2.5 billion.

Visa’s expansion strategy also includes partnerships with key stablecoin issuers, such as Paxos, which enabled the integration of PayPal’s digital dollar token (PYUSD) into Visa’s ecosystem in July.

These collaborations position Visa to capitalize on the growing demand for programmable money, particularly in regions with limited access to traditional banking infrastructure.

The stablecoin market continues to mature, with a combined market capitalization of approximately $305.3 billion, though it experienced a slight seven-day decline of $748 million. Tether (USDT) remains the dominant player, controlling 60.12% of the total market.