Tech firms and crypto startups are moving in on territory long dominated by Visa and Mastercard, powered by a new type of currency-the stablecoin-and a pitch merchants can’t ignore: lower fees, faster settlement and a way to bypass the big two altogether.
It’s a tech threat and a financial threat. Digital tokens, which are typically pegged to the dollar, allow consumers to pay merchants directly from their crypto wallets-without routing payments through a bank or card network. Last year alone, US businesses paid an estimated $187 billion in swipe fees, most of it via Visa and Mastercard’s systems. Stablecoins promise to make that toll much lower, or even obsolete.
“It’s clear that eventually this entire space could be a threat to TradFi providers,” said Christian Catalini, founder of MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab. “But credit card networks aren’t sitting on the sidelines. The card networks will push to work with many stablecoins, so they retain their central role.”
That pressure is prompting Visa and Mastercard to brand themselves-not as old-school toll collectors-but as the backbone for all kinds of digital transactions, including those originally designed to bypass them. With President Donald Trump poised to sign the legislation that creates formal federal oversight of stablecoin issuers, they’re touting enhancements to longstanding efforts in areas including stablecoin settlement and crypto-linked cards. Visa and Mastercard have also highlighted initiatives in cross-border payments, one of the most popular use cases for stablecoins.
In pulling stablecoins closer, it may prove just the latest feat of co-option by the big guns, with the stablecoin market now worth $253 billion-and on course to reach $2 trillion in the next few years, according to treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
