Visa and Nium Team Up for Stablecoin Settlement Test in Singapore

The global payments giant Visa has partnered with cross-border payment platform Nium to trial stablecoin settlement mechanisms in Singapore's BLOOM program. The initiative, spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), aims to explore whether regulated digital currencies can facilitate continuous payment settlement operations throughout the week.

Under the BLOOM infrastructure, Visa has designated Nium as its initial collaboration partner within the program. The testing will focus on stablecoin-based settlement using regulated coins pegged to USD and euros, covering all seven days of the week, including weekends and holidays.

Visa currently operates stablecoin settlement infrastructure across nine different blockchain platforms with an annualized transaction flow of approximately $7 billion. The company's CEO, Ryan McInerney, has characterized Visa's stablecoin strategy as 'multi-coin, multi-chain,' emphasizing the diversified approach. No specific token has been designated for the pilot yet.

Amaresh Mohan, Nium's chief risk and compliance officer, explained that the BLOOM collaboration focuses on developing infrastructure that bridges conventional payment systems with stablecoin-based rails.