Visa Searches for a New Stablecoin Settlement Partner After Mastercard Acquires BVNK
Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK left Visa without its stablecoin settlement provider. Here's what's confirmed about the search for a replacement.
What Happened
Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8 billion in a deal announced March 17, 2026, which closed on August 3, 2026, according to CoinDesk. BVNK had been handling Visa's stablecoin settlement operations, and its technology was a component of Visa Direct, Visa's real-time payments network that enables stablecoin-denominated settlement for merchants and financial institutions.
Visa's Response
With BVNK now owned by a direct competitor, Visa issued a request for product seeking a new provider capable of supporting multiple stablecoins and handling settlement services, per PYMNTS. Visa is reportedly prioritizing a settlement and over-the-counter provider that holds cryptocurrency exchange licenses across the U.S., Canada, UK, and Singapore.
The Open USD Angle
Visa's search also includes settlement support for Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin initiative backed by a group of payments companies that includes Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard. That both Visa and Mastercard back the same stablecoin initiative while now competing directly on settlement infrastructure reflects how contested this layer of the stablecoin market has become.
Why This Matters
This is an infrastructure story, not a signal about any specific stablecoin's value. What it shows is that the two largest payment networks are now positioning themselves as competing settlement rails for stablecoin transactions, following a licensing model rather than working through shared third-party infrastructure. As stablecoin volume grows, who provides settlement, and under what licensing, becomes as consequential as which stablecoins get used, including for platforms like Bitval that support stablecoin trading directly.
If you want to see how stablecoin trading works on Bitval directly, you can explore Bitval's markets here.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
