Visa and Stripe's Bridge to Launch Stablecoin-Backed Cards in 100 Countries

Visa and Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company acquired by Stripe in 2025, announced on Tuesday that they will expand stablecoin-backed debit cards to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East [1][2]. The initiative, which is currently live in 18 countries with prior launches in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, will allow cardholders to spend stablecoin balances at more than 175 million Visa merchant locations worldwide [1].

How the Cards Work

The mechanics are built around Bridge's role as a backend infrastructure provider. Companies such as Phantom, the popular Solana-based wallet, partner with Bridge to issue branded stablecoin debit cards that ride on the Visa payments network [1]. When a cardholder taps or swipes at a merchant terminal, Bridge converts the stablecoin balance into local fiat currency in real time, and Visa processes the transaction through its existing rails.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, framed the product as a natural evolution of wallet design.

"Anyone who's building a stablecoin wallet needs to have a card connected to it," Sheffield told Fortune [1].

The model effectively turns any stablecoin wallet into a spending account with global merchant acceptance, removing the friction that has historically kept crypto balances siloed from everyday commerce.

On-Chain Settlement Pilot

Beyond the consumer-facing card product, Bridge is participating in a Visa pilot program designed to settle card charges directly with stablecoins on blockchain networks, replacing the traditional bank-transfer settlement process [1]. Other participants in the pilot include payments processors Worldpay and Nuvei.

Through a partnership between Bridge and Lead Bank, card transactions in the pilot settle on-chain over supported blockchain networks, with Visa acting as the clearing layer. The initiative remains in pilot phase, but if scaled, it would represent a fundamental shift in how card-network settlement operates, moving from batch-processed bank wires to near-instantaneous blockchain-based finality [1].

Sheffield expressed confidence in the trajectory.

"We think if we can move billions of dollars on chain, we can move trillions of dollars on chain," he said [1].

Competitive Landscape and Valuation Signals

Visa and Bridge are not operating in isolation. Rain, a stablecoin startup that raised $250 million at an approximate $2 billion valuation, also issues stablecoin-linked Visa cards, underscoring the growing ecosystem of companies building on this model [1]. The capital flowing into stablecoin card infrastructure suggests that investors view the category as one of the highest-growth segments in digital payments.

The expansion also arrives in the wake of the GENIUS Act, the Senate-passed stablecoin legislation. Notably, both Visa and Mastercard saw their stock prices decline the day after the bill's passage, a market signal that investors interpreted the legislation as potentially opening the payments market to new stablecoin-native competitors [2].

Agentic Commerce and the Next Frontier

Zach Abrams, Bridge's CEO and cofounder, pointed toward a use case that extends beyond human cardholders entirely. In remarks reported by Fortune, Abrams referenced the concept of agentic commerce, a scenario in which autonomous AI agents execute transactions on behalf of users or businesses [1].

"There's a whole new world that may be created when agents want to transact," Abrams said [1].

The comment signals that Bridge and Visa are positioning their stablecoin infrastructure not only for today's consumer card market but also for a future in which software agents require programmable money rails to conduct commerce at machine speed.

Strategic Implications

The 100-country expansion transforms stablecoin cards from a niche product into a global payments layer. For consumers in markets with volatile local currencies or limited banking access, the ability to hold dollar-denominated stablecoins and spend them at any Visa terminal represents a practical alternative to traditional foreign-exchange products.

For Visa, the partnership with Bridge deepens its position in the digital asset ecosystem without requiring the network to custody crypto assets directly. For Stripe, which acquired Bridge to bolster its stablecoin capabilities, the rollout validates the acquisition thesis by demonstrating rapid international scale.

The pilot's progression from 18 countries to 100-plus will test whether stablecoin-to-fiat conversion can operate reliably across diverse regulatory environments, banking systems, and currency regimes. The answer will shape the next phase of competition between legacy card networks and blockchain-native payment protocols.

References

[1] Fortune, "Visa and Stripe's Bridge to Launch Stablecoin-Backed Cards in 100+ Countries," March 3, 2026. https://fortune.com/crypto/2026/03/03/visa-stripe-bridge-stablecoin-cards-100-countries/ [2] AMBCrypto, "Visa and Bridge Expand Stablecoin Cards Globally," March 1, 2026. https://ambcrypto.com/visa-bridge-stablecoin-cards-global-expansion/