Stablecoins Move into the Back Office
Crypto companies are adopting a new strategy to gain traction in payments by going where users already are and staying out of sight, rather than trying to change user habits.
One notable example is Apple Pay, which tokenizes cards and hands transactions over to banks, Visa or Mastercard, and the merchant's bank. Estimates put Apple Pay at $7.6T+ in annual volume.
Visa has been quietly changing its settlement layer by partnering with Circle on USDC (USD Coin) settlements for U.S. issuers and acquirers. This change allows banks to settle transactions seven days a week, including weekends and holidays, without any change for the cardholder.
Mastercard has also jumped into stablecoin settlement, allowing payment in six different stablecoins across eight blockchains. It acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8B in March.