TLDR
- Stripe has launched technology that will enable businesses to create their own stablecoin and have it live in a matter of days.
- Visa is actively working on using blockchain tech to make international payments cheaper and faster.
- Chainlink has developed technology that will enable blockchain to connect directly to the Swift system.
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” – Doc Brown, Back to the Future
Three major institutions have made some huge announcements that could alter our perspective on digital currency. The highway of the future is digital, and it’s paved with stablecoins.
Stripe launched tools to help businesses create their own stablecoins, Visa is testing stablecoin funding for cross-border payments, and Chainlink figured out how to make traditional banks play nice with blockchain tech. Time to get after it.
Stripe Says “Why Use Someone Else’s Stablecoin?”
Stripe has unveiled something called Open Issuance, and it’s pretty wild. Instead of businesses having to use existing stablecoins like USDC or Tether, they can now launch their own.
Here’s the problem Stripe is solving: When businesses use other people’s stablecoins, they miss out on all the good stuff. If you’re a digital bank sitting on millions in stablecoin deposits, someone else is earning the interest on that money, not you. Plus, when customers want to cash out, you’re (sometimes) stuck paying burn fees to the stablecoin issuer.
Open Issuance changes the game completely. Businesses can mint and burn their own coins whenever they want, customize their cash-to-treasury ratios, and they get to keep the rewards from originating stablecoins on their platform.
The first stablecoin to launch on this platform is called CASH, created by Phantom ( the crypto wallet company). Other big names like MetaMask and Hyperliquid are already planning their own coins on the platform.
But Stripe didn’t stop there. They also made it easier for businesses to actually use stablecoins day-to-day:
- Accept recurring stablecoin payments (perfect for subscriptions)
- Hold stablecoin balances in US business accounts
- Convert between different currencies on the fly
- Send stablecoins cross-border with a regular debit card
Visa Direct Gets a Stablecoin Makeover
Meanwhile, Visa announced it’s testing something that could make international money transfers way less painful. Their pilot program allows businesses to prefund Visa Direct payments with stablecoins instead of traditional fiat currency.
Why does this matter? Right now, if you’re a business that needs to send money globally, you have to park huge amounts of cash in different countries just to cover potential payouts. It’s like keeping emergency money under your mattress in every room of your house — inefficient and expensive.
With stablecoin prefunding, businesses can keep their money working for them while still ensuring payouts are covered. Plus, they don’t have to worry as much about currency fluctuations messing with their treasury operations.
The pilot is starting small with select partners, but Visa plans to expand it in 2026. Recipients still get paid in their local currency, so nothing changes for the people receiving money.
Chainlink Bridges the Old and New Financial Worlds
Perhaps the most technically impressive announcement came from Chainlink, doing what Chainlink does best — disrupting. They figured out how to let traditional banks interact with blockchain technology using the same Swift messaging system they’ve used for decades.
This is huge because it removes one of the biggest barriers to institutions adopting digital assets. Banks don’t need to rip out their existing systems or train everyone on new interfaces. They can manage tokenized assets using the same Swift infrastructure they already know and trust.
Chainlink tested this with UBS (a Swiss bank, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has read this article), where they handled subscriptions and redemptions for a tokenized fund using standard ISO 20022 messages. The Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE) acted as a translator, converting Swift messages into blockchain actions.
Say what?
Translation from Nerd to English: It could be the key to unlocking the multi-trillion-dollar global fund industry for blockchain tech via tokenized RWAs. Instead of institutions having to choose between their existing systems and new blockchain benefits, they can now have both.
What This Means for Regular Crypto Users
So what does all this corporate maneuvering mean for everyday crypto users? Quite a lot, actually.
First, we’re likely to see way more stablecoins in the wild. When it’s easy for businesses to launch their own, we’ll probably see industry-specific or region-specific stablecoins that serve particular use cases better than generic ones.
Second, international money transfers could get cheaper and faster. If Visa’s pilot works out, it could put pressure on traditional remittance services to step up their game or risk getting left behind.
Third, the gap between traditional finance and crypto is shrinking fast. When major banks can interact with blockchain tech using their existing systems, it removes a lot of the friction that’s kept institutions on the sidelines.
The Bigger Picture: Financial Infrastructure Gets a (Desperately Needed) Upgrade
What’s the point? What’s happening? Why is it happening? These announcements are about upgrading the plumbing of the global financial system. For too long, moving money internationally has been slow, expensive, and opaque. These moves could change that.
Stablecoins offer a way to move value instantly across borders without the usual banking delays and fees. When that capability gets baked into the infrastructure that businesses and banks already use, it becomes accessible to everyone, not just crypto enthusiasts.
The fact that three major players are all moving in this direction simultaneously suggests we’re at a tipping point. Stablecoins are moving from experimental technology to essential financial infrastructure. To be clear, stablecoins are a form of RWA.
Getting Ready for the Stablecoin Future
If you’re new to crypto, now might be a good time to familiarize yourself with stablecoins. They’re likely to become much more common in everyday financial transactions over the next few years.
Start by understanding the basics: stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged to the US dollar. They combine the benefits of crypto (fast, cheap, programmable) with the stability of traditional currencies.
As these infrastructure improvements roll out, we’ll probably see stablecoins become as common as credit cards for certain types of transactions — especially international payments, eCommerce, and business-to-business transfers.
The financial world is getting a major upgrade, and it’s happening faster than most people realize. Stripe, Visa, and Chainlink just laid down some serious groundwork for that future.
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