Key Takeaways
- Anchorage Digital partnered with Visa to support Western Union’s USDPT as a native settlement asset on VisaNet.
- Visa’s stablecoin settlement run rate jumped 10x to $25 billion annually alongside 225+ card programs.
- Visa and Anchorage plan to evaluate and add more 1:1 dollar-backed stablecoins to the network next.
Rapid Growth in Stablecoin Settlement
Anchorage Digital announced Thursday, Nov. 12, that it is collaborating with Visa to support select stablecoins issued by its federally regulated bank as native settlement assets on the Visa network, beginning with Western Union’s USDPT token.
Under the agreement, Visa and eligible partners can use USDPT to settle their obligations on Visanet. USDPT is the first stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank to receive support on the network, although the partnership establishes a framework for evaluating and adding other Anchorage-issued stablecoins in the future.
The announcement comes amid rapid expansion of Visa’s stablecoin settlement infrastructure. As of September, Visa reported an annualized stablecoin settlement run rate of $25 billion and more than 225 active stablecoin-linked card programs globally. Traditional card settlement typically operates on a five-business-day schedule through conventional banking systems, while blockchain-based settlement allows funds to move continuously, including on weekends and holidays.
Earlier this week, the Monad Foundation announced that Visa had added support for Monad, an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, as a stablecoin settlement network. The integration gives participating Visa issuers and acquirers another blockchain option offering subsecond finality and planned privacy features designed to keep commercially sensitive transaction details confidential, while allowing access for auditors and regulators.
Bridging Regulation and Blockchain Speed
Anchorage Digital said its collaboration with Visa advances its goal of becoming an institutional-scale settlement bank for stablecoins. Beyond issuing tokens, the company provides digital asset custody and settlement infrastructure.
“Stablecoins have made money move faster, but speed alone won’t bring institutions onchain,” Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, said in a statement. “They need a regulated institution behind the money. With Anchorage Digital select issued stablecoins now being supported on the Visa network, institutions get both: the speed of a stablecoin and the safety of a federally regulated bank behind it.”
For its part, Visa said the integration expands settlement options for its network participants.
“As stablecoin payments grow, we’re focused on providing more choice for our partners in how they settle with Visa,” said Dan Roesbery, vice president of global crypto partnerships and go-to-market at Visa. “Supporting USDPT as a native settlement asset, in partnership with Anchorage, gives them another trusted, institution-grade option backed by a federally chartered bank.”
In addition to Western Union’s USDPT, Anchorage Digital Bank’s federally regulated platform issues several other dollar-pegged stablecoins, including Tether’s USAT, OSL Group’s USDGO, Ethena Labs’ USDtb, Falcon Finance’s fUSD, and Zelle’s ZLUSD. The company said each token is backed 1-to-1 by U.S. dollars and cash equivalents and issued under federal oversight.
Anchorage Digital also operates Atlas, an institutional counterparty settlement network designed to mitigate risk and facilitate off-exchange settlement, collateral management, and cross-border transfers. The company said combining regulated stablecoin issuance with settlement infrastructure is intended to support institutional adoption of ’round-the-clock digital payments.
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