When the global payment giant Visa began to deliver US dollars directly onto the blockchain, the world truly realized that stablecoins were no longer just fringe experiments in the crypto market. Recently, Visa announced the official launch of a stablecoin payment pilot program, allowing creators, freelancers, and businesses to receive payments directly in USDC through Visa Direct, enabling instant cross-border settlements. This means that funds can move directly from the traditional banking system to the blockchain, compressing cross-border payment times from several days to just minutes. The deeper significance lies in the fact that it tears down the old boundaries of the SWIFT era, and a new track for global payments is gradually taking shape.
The digital economy is rapidly expanding, but the payment system is clearly lagging behind. By 2025, the global creator economy is expected to reach approximately $185 billion, growing to $376 billion by 2030 (according to WPP's "Global Creator Economy Outlook 2024" report). In this ecosystem, 57% of digital creators view "instant fund availability" as the primary factor in choosing payment methods, far exceeding concerns about fees or security. However, the reality is harsh: cross-border payments take an average of 4.5 days, with fees as high as 6.5%, and banking penetration in emerging markets like Latin America and Africa is below 50%.
Visa, as a payment giant processing over $150 trillion in transactions annually, has been laying the groundwork in the crypto space since 2020, facilitating over $140 billion in stablecoin transactions and launching more than 130 stablecoin-linked card projects in 40 countries. This pilot program is a key part of its stablecoin roadmap: from the "preloaded" pilot in September (allowing businesses to fund Visa Direct accounts with stablecoins) to now supporting end users to receive USDC directly, Visa is quietly shifting from backend settlements to frontend applications.
Driving this on-chain payment transformation is a key figure within Visa—Chris Newkirk. As the President of Visa's Business and Cash Flow Solutions, Newkirk not only understands finance but is also well-versed in blockchain architecture. He previously served as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, focusing on financial services and technology optimization. When he joined Visa in June 2020 as Chief Strategy Officer, it was at a time when the pandemic was accelerating global digital transformation. He immediately led Visa's landmark partnership with Crypto.com, becoming the first to use USDC to settle cross-border Visa card transactions, pushing stablecoins from "crypto fringe experiments" to actual commercial applications.
Chris Newkirk stated, "The launch of stablecoin payments means truly achieving 'funds available in minutes,' allowing users worldwide to quickly and securely receive income." This is not just a marketing slogan. With years of stablecoin practice globally, Visa has accumulated rich experience, making this on-chain dollar transfer not only feasible but also replicable. However, unlike before, this time Visa has chosen to directly integrate on-chain assets into its settlement core, allowing dollars to circulate on-chain rather than merely remaining at the interface level.
During the pilot phase, businesses can initiate payments in fiat currency in the U.S., while recipients can choose to receive USDC directly. Funds will arrive within minutes, without the need for bank intermediaries or waiting for cross-border clearing. This means that Visa has, for the first time, enabled "direct on-chain access" for dollars, allowing funds to flow directly from business accounts to personal wallets without going through layers of the traditional financial system.
Choosing creators and freelancers as the first pilot subjects is not coincidental; this is a rapidly globalizing group. In 2024 alone, the total income of global freelancers is expected to exceed $500 billion, with more than half coming from cross-border transactions. Under the old system, they are often kept outside the system by bank thresholds: slow remittances, cumbersome procedures, opaque regulations, and in some countries, even difficulties in opening receiving accounts.
The introduction of stablecoin payments has finally given individual workers true control over cross-border settlements; they are no longer just passive recipients but direct participants in the global financial network.
From a macro perspective, Visa's move aligns with the U.S. government's push for stablecoin regulatory legislation (Stablecoin Bill), Circle's pursuit of a U.S. listing, and PayPal's issuance of its own stablecoin (PYUSD), collectively forming a systemic trend: the dollar system is operating on multiple tracks in parallel.
What does this mean for the global financial landscape?
A former IMF advisor pointed out in an interview with the Financial Times: "If stablecoins are pegged to the dollar and issued by U.S. companies under U.S. regulation, they effectively become a form of 'privately issued digital dollars.'" This privatized dollar expansion path allows the U.S. to maintain monetary hegemony without pushing for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Traditional dollar hegemony relies on dollar reserves, the SWIFT clearing system, and the U.S. banking network, while the new path breaks through these limitations. Stablecoins allow dollars to circulate directly on a global scale, enabling businesses to initiate payments and individuals and creators to receive payments directly, with funds settling in minutes without relying on bank intermediaries or cross-border clearing.
This development has profound implications for the global financial landscape, as central banks in other countries will face greater challenges: when dollars can circulate across borders without going through the traditional financial system, the status and influence of domestic currencies in international payments may be weakened. To maintain financial sovereignty, regulators need to consider establishing cross-border regulatory rules for digital assets, supporting the safe and compliant construction of stablecoin and on-chain payment ecosystems to create a controllable payment environment.
In other words, this is a moment that compels regulatory and technological upgrades to work in tandem. Whoever can master the new order of on-chain payments will gain the upper hand in future global financial competition.
In the future, global payments will no longer be limited to traditional ledgers and bank intermediaries but may take the form of stablecoins, penetrating every cross-border transaction to achieve instant fund availability. Fiat currency will no longer need to rely on banks to flow across borders through smart contracts; the income of freelancers and creators can reach their wallets in minutes. At that time, the real data operating on-chain will tell us that the way payments are made is undergoing substantial changes.
Related: With Trump signing the bill, the U.S. government shutdown has officially ended, and the development of the crypto industry continues to advance.
Original article: “Visa Expands into Stablecoins, $1.5 Trillion Creator Economy to Benefit as Cross-Border Payments Enter the Minute Era!”
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