Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase are forming a consortium to issue a new stablecoin and build shared payment infrastructure, according to reports first surfaced by The Information on June 3, 2026. The move targets a $325 billion stablecoin market where two issuers — Tether ($189.5B) and Cir...
"Our partners are building in a multi-chain world, and they expect their options to reflect that reality." — Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, Visa
Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase are forming a consortium to issue a new stablecoin and build shared payment infrastructure, according to reports first surfaced by The Information on June 3, 2026. The move targets a $325 billion stablecoin market where two issuers — Tether ($189.5B) and Circle ($78.25B) — control roughly 80% of supply. No official name, reserve structure, or launch date has been disclosed.
The consortium arrives amid a wave of stablecoin infrastructure M&A: Stripe closed its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in February 2025; Mastercard agreed to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion in March 2026; and Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot to nine blockchains in April 2026, reaching a $7 billion annualized run rate. Combined, the four companies process over $20 trillion in annual card volume and serve merchants in more than 200 countries — a distribution advantage no existing stablecoin issuer matches.
The practical question is whether a consortium-issued stablecoin can capture meaningful share in a market where Tether's USDT alone handles $13.3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Real-world stablecoin payment activity remains small at $390 billion annually, according to McKinsey — roughly 1% of total on-chain volume. But that segment is growing at over 100% year-over-year, and the card networks' existing merchant relationships could accelerate adoption in B2B payments, cross-border settlement, and retail checkout.
Details remain limited. According to reports from The Information and CoinDesk, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are close to introducing a jointly operated stablecoin platform. Coinbase is evaluating participation but has not confirmed involvement. The four companies have declined to comment on specifics.
What is known: the platform would leverage each company's existing stablecoin infrastructure rather than building from scratch. Stripe operates Bridge, a stablecoin issuance and conversion platform serving businesses in 101 countries. Mastercard's pending BVNK acquisition provides stablecoin-to-fiat rails across 130+ countries. Visa's settlement pilot already supports nine blockchains. Coinbase holds a 22% share of total USDC supply and earns revenue from Circle's reserve interest under a revenue-sharing agreement.
The consortium structure is notable because Visa and Mastercard rarely collaborate on shared infrastructure. Their networks compete directly in card issuance, merchant acquiring, and cross-border transactions. A joint stablecoin platform suggests both companies view stablecoin infrastructure as a pre-competitive layer — similar to how they co-founded the EMV chip standard decades ago.
Total stablecoin market capitalization reached $325 billion as of June 2026, according to DefiLlama data. The market is heavily concentrated:
| Stablecoin | Market Cap | Market Share | |-----------|-----------|-------------| | USDT (Tether) | $189.5B | 58.3% | | USDC (Circle) | $78.25B | 24.1% | | PYUSD (PayPal) | $2.78B | 0.9% | | RLUSD (Ripple) | $1.64B | 0.5% | | All Others | $52.83B | 16.2% |
Total stablecoin transaction volume reached $33–35 trillion in 2025, a 72% increase from the prior year, according to Bloomberg. USDC accounted for $18.3 trillion in transactions; USDT handled $13.3 trillion. Stablecoin liquidity crossed $320.6 billion in May 2026, per KuCoin data.
The market is dollar-denominated: approximately 99% of all stablecoin supply in circulation is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
The consortium members have collectively deployed at least $2.9 billion in stablecoin infrastructure M&A over the past 18 months:
Stripe → Bridge ($1.1B, closed February 2025) Bridge provides end-to-end stablecoin infrastructure: issuance, conversion, storage, and compliance. In February 2026, Bridge received a conditional national trust bank charter from the OCC, enabling federal oversight for stablecoin issuance and digital asset custody. Bridge's "Open Issuance" product, launched September 2025, lets businesses create custom stablecoins with reserves managed by BlackRock, Fidelity, and Superstate. Stripe has also launched Stablecoin Financial Accounts, allowing businesses in 101 countries to hold dollar-backed stablecoin balances.
Mastercard → BVNK ($1.8B, announced March 2026) The BVNK deal, which includes $300 million in contingent payments, is pending regulatory approval with expected close by year-end. BVNK's platform connects on-chain stablecoin payments with Mastercard's global fiat rails across 130+ countries, supporting cross-border payments, remittances, B2B transactions, and 24/7 settlement. Mastercard also added USDC, RLUSD, and PYUSD settlement partners during H1 2026.
These acquisitions give the consortium companies direct ownership of stablecoin plumbing — issuance, conversion, custody, and settlement — rather than relying on third-party infrastructure.
Despite the reported joint platform, Visa and Mastercard have pursued distinct approaches to stablecoin integration, according to analysis from Starpoint LLP.
Visa: Open Architecture Visa has built a multi-chain stablecoin settlement pilot supporting nine blockchains: Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Arc, and Tempo. The pilot has reached a $7 billion annualized settlement run rate, up 50% quarter-over-quarter. Visa-linked stablecoin card programs operate in 50+ countries, with plans to expand to 100+ by year-end 2026. Visa's stablecoin-linked card spend hit a $4.5 billion annualized run rate by January 2026, up 460% year-over-year.
Visa's strategy is governance-centric: it provides trust, security, and acceptance network infrastructure while inviting partners to build on top.
Mastercard: Vertical Integration Mastercard's approach relies on acquisitions — BVNK, Vocalink, Nets, Recorded Future — to build centralized ownership of payment rails. The BVNK deal is specifically designed to embed stablecoin settlement directly into Mastercard's existing cross-border infrastructure. Mastercard has expanded always-on stablecoin settlement capabilities and added six new settlement partners for USDC, RLUSD, and PYUSD.
The two strategies are complementary within a consortium structure: Visa provides multi-chain settlement reach, Mastercard provides fiat off-ramp infrastructure, and both provide merchant acceptance networks.
McKinsey & Company published data in early 2026 showing that real-world stablecoin payment volume reached $390 billion annually, based on December 2025 data. This figure excludes trading, arbitrage, and automated transfers — capturing only genuine payment activity such as vendor payments, payroll, remittances, and capital markets settlements.
The $390 billion figure more than doubled 2024 levels. Regional breakdown:
| Region | Annual Volume | Share | |--------|-------------|-------| | Asia | $245B | 60% | | North America | $95B | 24% | | Europe | $50B | 13% | | Other | ~$10B | 3% |
By use case, B2B transactions accounted for $226 billion (58% of payment volume), global payroll and remittances totaled $90 billion (23%), and capital markets activity contributed $8 billion (2%).
This is the addressable market the consortium is targeting. At $390 billion, real-world stablecoin payments represent roughly 1.1% of the $35 trillion total on-chain volume — but it is the fastest-growing segment and the one most aligned with card network distribution. For context, Visa processed $16.7 trillion in total payment volume in fiscal 2025. If the consortium captured even 10% of a rapidly growing stablecoin payment market, it would represent a new multi-billion-dollar revenue stream.
The consortium's formation has implications for existing stablecoin issuers.
Circle (CRCL): Circle completed its IPO on the NYSE, pricing at $31 per share and opening at $69. As of June 16, 2026, Circle stock trades at approximately $80, with a market cap of $19.82 billion. Circle paid $908 million to Coinbase under their revenue-sharing agreement in 2024. If Coinbase joins the consortium and issues a competing stablecoin, the Circle-Coinbase relationship faces structural tension. Their revenue-sharing agreement is due for renewal in 2026, according to Bernstein analysts.
Tether: Tether's USDT leads with $189.5 billion in circulation and $137.5 billion in reserves, with 82% in U.S. Treasuries. Tether holds approximately $135 billion in Treasuries, $21 billion in reverse repos, $14.6 billion in secured loans, $12.9 billion in gold, and 96,000+ BTC (~$8.4–9.9 billion). Tether's dominance in exchange-based trading liquidity gives it a structural moat the consortium cannot easily replicate.
Emerging Issuers: PayPal's PYUSD has reached $2.78 billion in market cap and expanded to 70 markets. Ripple's RLUSD has grown to $1.64 billion with a 123% month-over-month increase in transfer volume to $4.71 billion. Gate.io listed RLUSD on June 15, 2026. Both are building independent distribution networks that could be disrupted or co-opted by the consortium.
The U.S. regulatory environment is moving toward a defined stablecoin framework. The GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, requires stablecoin issuers to be "permitted payment stablecoin issuers" and mandates federal or state oversight.
Key regulatory milestones in H1 2026:
The regulatory framework favors well-capitalized, compliance-oriented issuers — a profile that matches the consortium members. Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase all have existing regulatory relationships, compliance infrastructure, and legal teams that smaller issuers cannot match.
The consortium represents the largest coordinated push by traditional payment infrastructure into stablecoin issuance. The economic logic is straightforward: stablecoin reserve income generates high-margin revenue (Circle earned $1.01 billion in distribution costs alone in 2024, mostly from reserve interest), and the card networks' existing merchant relationships provide distribution that no crypto-native issuer can replicate.
The open question is whether a jointly governed stablecoin can achieve the speed and decisiveness required to compete with Tether's first-mover advantage in trading and Circle's regulatory positioning. The consortium's $2.9 billion in deployed infrastructure capital and combined reach across 200+ countries provide a credible foundation. But stablecoin markets are characterized by strong network effects — USDT's dominance in exchange liquidity and USDC's position in DeFi were built over years, not quarters.
The next 12 months will determine whether this is a genuine market restructuring or an expensive hedge by incumbents against disintermediation. The answer likely depends on whether the consortium delivers a product before the GENIUS Act's January 2027 effective date, when the competitive landscape will be formally redefined.