Visa offers bank stablecoin issuance services, aligning with the future tokenized asset market.

Payment giant Visa's asset tokenization platform is helping traditional banks issue digital fiat currency on Ethereum. It has currently partnered with Spain's BBVA Bank, entering the experimental phase, and is expected to launch a pilot on Ethereum in 2025.

Visa Aims to Settle Tokenized Goods in Real Time with Stablecoins

Visa's Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) will assist banks in developing stablecoins backed by fiat currencies to aid in the digitization and automation of existing processes.

It will enable banks to use Visa's new platform to purchase tokenized goods or bonds with these stablecoins, aiming for near real-time settlement. Spain's BBVA Bank is one of the first financial institutions to use VTAP, with plans to launch tests by 2025.

Visa is also collaborating with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on a similar initiative, with their pilot program progressing to its second phase. Their e-HKD project aims to explore cross-border settlement of tokenized securities using tokenized deposits.

The second phase of the Hong Kong digital HKD e-HKD initiative has been launched, with multiple financial institutions testing use cases.

Visa's Crypto Division Drives "Modernization of Financial Systems"

Visa's crypto division, led by Cuy Sheffield, who founded Pomona Ventures while studying sociology at Pomona College in California to encourage entrepreneurial ambitions among students, is also a blockchain enthusiast. The motivation behind this experiment is the realization that by providing legally supported tokens and participating in the on-chain capital markets, banks can achieve the modernization of financial systems.

In fact, Visa is no stranger to the blockchain space, having processed USDC settlements on Ethereum as early as March 2021. Additionally, this month, Visa has become a partner in the Central Bank of Brazil's CBDC pilot program. The concept of a shared blockchain ledger aligns well with Visa's core payment business, making their experimentation with blockchain technology a logical step. However, it has been three years since their last Ethereum stablecoin settlement experiment, which may seem sluggish in the rapidly evolving blockchain world.