VISA, Mastercard Snub Stablecoin Threat, But Competition Is Rising
With stablecoins getting all the attention currently with the passing of the GENIUS Act last month, VISA and Mastercard executives have denied any imminent threat from the fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies during their earnings call this week. They stated that use of stablecoins is still insufficient or negligible to challenge their market dominance.
VISA, Mastercard Deny Competition From Stablecoins
Both Visa and Mastercard acknowledge that crypto usage remains minimal compared to the approximately $15 trillion processed annually on Visa’s network alone. They added that such digital assets are mostly useful in countries with unstable fiat systems.
VISA, Mastercard Transaction Fees – Source: Reuters
However, stablecoins still face the challenge of low transaction fees. Although both the card processing companies remain resilient with strong earnings for the past quarter, they have faced pressure to reduce the credit card transaction fees, reported Reuters.
Visa and Mastercard together collected around $95 billion in swipe fees from merchants in their most recent fiscal years. However, their share of these fees is shrinking. Visa earned 6.6 cents per transaction in processing fees last quarter, down from nearly 9 cents a decade ago. Similarly, Mastercard’s transaction fees have averaged to 7.3 cents per transaction, down from nearly 8 cents the year before.
On the other hand, stablecoins led by players like Circle (NASDAQ: CRCL) have started to eat into the market share of these big giants. During the first quarter of 2025, stablecoin transaction volume exceeded Visa’s, reaching over $6 trillion, nearly double Visa’s total, according to data from Bitwise.
📊 UPDATE: Stablecoin transaction volume surpasses Visa's in Q1 2025, nearly doubled Visa’s volume with over $6T, per Bitwise data. pic.twitter.com/Af2PZu8r5m
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 30, 2025
VISA Makes Key Stablecoin Partnerships
On the other hand, VISA has continued to make key partnerships to keep its footing in the stablecoin market. Visa has expanded its stablecoin initiative by adding support for two new USD-backed stablecoins, Global Dollar (USDG) and PayPal USD (PYUSD), in its recent partnership with Paxos.
The company is also broadening its blockchain integrations to include Stellar and Avalanche, alongside its existing support for Ethereum and Solana. Additionally, Visa now supports Circle’s euro-backed stablecoin, EURC, further diversifying its digital currency offerings.
Visa has already facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoin payments, and the addition of USDG marks a further step in expanding its on-chain settlement infrastructure. The move also builds on Visa’s earlier collaboration with Circle, the issuer of USDC.
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