Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are forming a consortium to issue a new stablecoin, according to reports from The Information and CoinDesk published June 3, 2026. The initiative targets the Tether-Circle duopoly, which controls approximately 93% of the $325 billion stablecoin market. No of...
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Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are forming a consortium to issue a new stablecoin, according to reports from The Information and CoinDesk published June 3, 2026. The initiative targets the Tether-Circle duopoly, which controls approximately 93% of the $325 billion stablecoin market. No official name, token specification, or reserve structure has been disclosed.
The consortium represents $4.9 billion in combined stablecoin-infrastructure acquisitions completed over the past 18 months: Stripe's $1.1 billion Bridge purchase (closed February 2025), Mastercard's $1.8 billion BVNK deal (pending regulatory approval), and Visa's expansion of its stablecoin settlement pilot to nine blockchains at a $7 billion annualized run rate. Coinbase, which earns revenue from USDC reserve interest through its partnership with Circle, is reportedly evaluating participation.
The last attempt at a payments-industry stablecoin consortium — Facebook's Libra/Diem in 2019 — collapsed under regulatory opposition. The current effort operates under a materially different regulatory environment: the GENIUS Act stablecoin framework passed in 2025, California's Digital Financial Assets Law takes effect July 1, 2026, and purpose-built market structure legislation (the CLARITY Act) is advancing through the Senate.
According to three people familiar with the plans cited by CoinDesk on June 3, 2026, the platform is backed by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard. Coinbase is separately evaluating participation. All four companies declined to comment or did not respond to press inquiries.
Each participant brings differentiated infrastructure:
| Company | Stablecoin Asset | Acquisition Cost | Capability | |---------|-----------------|-----------------|------------| | Stripe | Bridge (stablecoin orchestration) | $1.1B | Cross-border payment routing, multi-stablecoin support | | Mastercard | BVNK (stablecoin settlement) | $1.8B | Fiat-to-stablecoin bridge, 130+ country coverage | | Visa | Internal build | N/A | Nine-blockchain settlement, 130+ card programs | | Coinbase | USDC partnership (Circle) | N/A | Exchange infrastructure, custody, compliance |
The consortium's combined merchant reach exceeds 100 million businesses globally through Stripe's payment processing, Visa's 4.3 billion cards in circulation, and Mastercard's 3.3 billion cards.
Total disclosed capital deployed into stablecoin infrastructure by consortium members: $4.9 billion.
Stripe — Bridge ($1.1 billion, October 2024) Stripe's largest acquisition. Bridge provides multi-stablecoin orchestration, allowing merchants to accept and settle in USDC, USDT, or other dollar-backed tokens. Bridge transaction volume quadrupled in 2025. Stripe processes trillions of dollars annually across its merchant base.
Mastercard — BVNK ($1.8 billion, March 2026) London-based BVNK connects traditional payment rails with blockchain-based systems. Integration into Mastercard Move enables 24/7 stablecoin settlement for processors and acquirers. The deal includes $1.5 billion base payment plus $300 million in performance-linked contingent payments. BVNK holds MiCA licenses in Malta (secured February 2026) and operates across 130+ countries.
Visa — Stablecoin Settlement Expansion ($7 billion run rate) Visa announced on April 29, 2026 that its stablecoin settlement pilot expanded to nine blockchains: Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Arc, and Tempo. Volume hit a $7 billion annualized run rate, up 50% quarter-over-quarter. Visa supports more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs across 50+ countries.
Stripe — Tempo Blockchain (co-developed with Paradigm) Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm co-developed Tempo, a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for payments. Tempo went live in early 2026 with infrastructure partners including Mastercard, UBS, Klarna, and Visa. The chain processes over 100,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality. DoorDash is testing stablecoin-powered merchant payouts on Tempo.
The stablecoin market as of June 2026:
Tether reported $13 billion in net profit for 2024. Circle filed for an IPO in early 2025. Both companies generate revenue primarily from interest on reserve assets (U.S. Treasuries) backing their tokens.
The consortium's challenge: building distribution. Tether and Circle have spent years integrating with exchanges, DeFi protocols, and payment processors. The consortium's advantage is that its members already own the distribution — Visa and Mastercard collectively process over $20 trillion in annual card volume, and Stripe processes payments for millions of internet businesses.
Tempo represents Stripe's bet that payments require purpose-built blockchain infrastructure rather than general-purpose chains. Key specifications:
Tempo is included in Visa's nine-blockchain stablecoin settlement network. Traditional correspondent banking takes 1-3 days for final settlement. Tempo's sub-second finality eliminates this lag.
The economic argument: cross-border B2B payments cost 1.5-3% through traditional rails. Stripe has stated it aims to push costs below 0.1% per transaction using stablecoin infrastructure. The $226 billion B2B stablecoin payment market in 2025 (733% year-over-year growth) validates demand for cheaper settlement.
Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot, announced April 29, 2026, operates across:
The program lets issuers and acquirers settle transactions in stablecoins instead of through traditional banking rails. At $7 billion annualized and growing 50% per quarter, the trajectory suggests $10+ billion by year-end 2026 if growth sustains.
Visa's inclusion of Tempo alongside institutional-focused networks like Canton signals a convergence of payment-company and crypto-native infrastructure rather than parallel development.
Mastercard's BVNK acquisition, announced March 17, 2026, gives the card network:
S&P Global noted the deal "accelerates Mastercard's stablecoin push." The $1.8 billion price tag — for a company founded in 2021 — reflects the premium on licensed, multi-jurisdiction stablecoin infrastructure.
Mastercard reportedly dropped its prior stablecoin settlement partner, Zerohash, following the BVNK acquisition, according to TechTimes (May 25, 2026). This consolidation suggests Mastercard intends BVNK to serve as its primary on-chain settlement layer.
The economic case for the consortium rests on B2B cross-border payment flows:
The discrepancy between McKinsey's $390 billion estimate and Juniper's $13.4 billion reflects methodological differences: McKinsey counts all non-trading stablecoin transfers; Juniper counts only cross-border B2B transactions that replace traditional correspondent banking.
Gross stablecoin transaction volume hit $33 trillion in 2025 (72% YoY increase). Monthly volume reached $7.2 trillion in February 2026. Most of this volume is trading-related, not payments. The consortium's bet is that infrastructure improvements convert trading volume into payment volume.
The regulatory environment in June 2026 differs materially from 2019 when Libra/Diem was proposed:
The U.S. has transitioned from regulation-by-enforcement to purpose-built legislation. This shift reduces the political risk that killed Libra. However, GENIUS Act rulemaking details — particularly around stablecoin yield (a contentious point during Senate markup) — remain unresolved.
The payment-network consortium represents the largest coordinated private-sector entry into stablecoin issuance since Meta's Libra project. The difference: these companies have already deployed $4.9 billion in infrastructure, control the distribution layer (7.6 billion cards, 100+ million merchants), and operate under a regulatory framework that did not exist in 2019.
The economic logic is straightforward. Tether earned $13 billion in profit in 2024 from interest on reserves. The consortium members process $20+ trillion in annual card volume. If even a fraction of that settles in their own stablecoin, the reserve-interest revenue alone justifies the infrastructure investment.
The risk: execution. Building a stablecoin is straightforward; building liquidity is not. Tether and Circle spent years embedding into exchange pairs, DeFi protocols, and payment corridors. The consortium must replicate this network effect while navigating the regulatory complexities of operating across 130+ countries — and managing potential conflicts with existing USDC partnerships (Coinbase earns revenue from Circle's USDC reserves).
The market will determine whether distribution trumps liquidity. The consortium has the former. Tether and Circle have the latter.