Prime Highlights:
- Visa is expanding its stablecoin-backed card partnership with Bridge to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- The move strengthens the link between digital currencies and everyday shopping, allowing users to spend stablecoins at merchants worldwide.
Key Facts:
- Bridge, acquired by Stripe in 2025, is working with Visa to issue stablecoin-backed debit cards that are already live in 18 countries.
- The cards enable customers to use stablecoins from their crypto wallets at any business that accepts Visa payments.
Background:
Global payments company Visa is expanding its stablecoin card partnership with Bridge, a crypto firm bought by Stripe in 2025. The companies said Tuesday they plan to launch stablecoin-backed cards in more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The move aims to make it easier for people to use digital currencies for everyday payments.
The expansion builds on an earlier commitment made in April to introduce the cards in Latin American countries, including Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. The product is already live in 18 countries. It lets customers use the stablecoins in their crypto wallets to pay at any shop or business that accepts Visa, from small stores to large retailers.
Under the arrangement, companies such as wallet provider Phantom partner with Bridge to issue branded stablecoin-backed debit cards, while Visa provides access to its global payments network. The setup enables users to convert digital dollar-pegged assets into payments at checkout, just like traditional card transactions.
Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, said stablecoin wallets need card connections to help users spend their balances in the real world. Industry observers have long debated whether stablecoins could disrupt traditional card networks by enabling instant transfers on blockchains. That concern resurfaced after the U.S. Senate passed the Genius Act, legislation aimed at regulating stablecoins, which led to a dip in card company stocks.
However, the deeper integration between fintech firms and established payment networks suggests cooperation rather than displacement. Another crypto firm, Rain, recently raised $250 million at a valuation close to $2 billion and also issues stablecoin-linked cards with Visa.
Bridge CEO Zach Abrams said Visa’s long-established merchant network remains valuable, with or without stablecoins. At the same time, he noted that emerging technologies such as AI-driven “agentic commerce” could create new transaction models where digital agents make purchases independently.
In addition to card expansion, Bridge will join a Visa pilot program exploring stablecoin settlements on blockchain, alongside fintech firms Worldpay and Nuvei. Visa executives said the company aims to move billions, and eventually trillions, of dollars on-chain, signaling confidence in the future of blockchain-based payments.