Visa's Stablecoin Strategy: Cards, Settlement, and the Future

Author: Payment 201

According to Visa's understanding, currently 70% to 90% of the transaction volume of credit and debit cards supported by stablecoins operates on their network, and this number continues to grow.

David Rolf leads Visa Ventures— the investment arm of the world's largest payment network, with a mission to find winning companies in strategically important areas for Visa.

About two and a half years ago, stablecoins began to become one of the focal points. At that time, the team no longer viewed crypto as a "card product," but began to see stablecoins as a real solution that could address real-world problems.

Since then, Visa has:

• Launched 24/7 stablecoin settlement

• Supported the use of USDC for pre-funding cross-border money flows (via Visa Direct)

• Partnered with companies like Rain and Western Union to provide stablecoin-supported cards to remittance recipients who have never interacted with cryptocurrency

David also broke down the key gaps that still exist:

• Local currency liquidity

• B2B payment infrastructure

• On-chain programmability

And Visa Ventures hopes to see more development in these areas among builders.

This content was recorded at A Very Stable Conference in San Francisco in 2026.

Guest: David Rolf (Head of Visa Ventures)
Host: Drew Rogers

Host (Drew Rogers):
I think for many of us, it was probably about two and a half to three years ago when we suddenly had an "aha" moment. When we started seeing stablecoins and realized they were indeed solving certain problems. I believe stablecoins have far surpassed the product-market fit stage.

Host (Narration):
David Rolf is the head of Visa Ventures. He explained how Visa is funding the next wave of global financial infrastructure and how the world's largest payment network operates at software speed. From our understanding, about 70% to 90% of the transaction volume of credit and debit cards supported by stablecoins is completed on Visa's network. Overall, people still need more understanding: stablecoins are not just for those crazy Degen DeFi players; they are solving real problems. If I were a builder in this room, I would think: how can I interact with Visa? How can Visa leverage its network, scale, relationships, and billions of account credentials to help me build my business? To learn the full strategy, please listen to Stable Dash.

Host:
This city next to the Golden Gate Bridge. It truly is a city full of wonders.

Host (Drew Rogers):
David, thank you for taking the time to join us at A Very Stable Conference in San Francisco. The atmosphere here is very lively. You just hosted a conversation on stage. Who did you host?

David Rolf:
Of course. I just hosted a conversation with Farooq from Rain and Malcolm from Western Union. They announced a partnership, essentially a collaboration with Visa: funds sent through Western Union can be received not only in cash but also directly onto a Visa card issued by Western Union and supported by stablecoins. So I think this will have a significant impact on many people.

For those who could only receive cash before, they can now actually keep their money within the digital economy. If they wish, they can also hold their funds in stablecoins. So yes, it was a very interesting conversation.

Host (Drew Rogers):
Yes, there is a strong energy here today, especially in this area where Visa's office is just a few blocks away; I hope I’m not mistaken.

Visa has been involved in this space. In fact, we previously chatted with Cuy when we did a podcast with Farooq from Rain, Cuy, and myself. We talked about it together. It's really cool to see Visa continuously participating in this discussion, not only in terms of product innovation but also in your work on the venture side.

Perhaps before we start, could you introduce your role, your responsibilities, and how you view the current state of builders and founders, especially in the stablecoin space, such as the current startup environment, team situations, and any gaps that may exist? But let’s start with your position in this organization.

David Rolf:
Of course. I have been with Visa for over 8 years, and I have been leading the Venture team for the past three and a half years. We are not a traditional venture capital fund. While we certainly aim for strong financial returns, that is not our primary goal. We are employees of Visa and report to Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jack Forestell. So we are strategically aligned.

Our mission is to truly find future winning companies in areas that are very important to Visa. Some are current business partners, some are not, and increasingly, there are those companies active in areas we consider "very important to Visa."

We have only one Ventures team responsible for global investments. More than half of our portfolio is outside North America. Stablecoins are one of the key areas we focus on because this space has very strong dynamics. Many founders are using this technology to solve real problems. For us, when we see a wave of technology addressing real issues, that is the stage we are most interested in and excited about.

I believe stablecoins have far surpassed the product-market fit stage, but at the same time, people are still exploring what else they can do. So over the past two years, we have spent a lot of time understanding this space and engaging with many people. We have indeed made some investments, but what we are really focused on is: what can we learn? How can we help these companies? How can we connect them to other teams within Visa? How can we introduce them to other venture capitalists who are suitable for them? This is really interesting.

Host (Drew Rogers):
I have a question about this. This moment for stablecoins—and the "real problem-solving" capability you mentioned—is strategically important for Visa's business. You also mentioned that you have been doing this for three years. From your personal perspective, how has your understanding of stablecoins changed over these three years? When did stablecoins really start to become a strategic focus? How do you view them now compared to three years ago?

David Rolf:
From my personal perspective, and from Visa's perspective, we actually had a crypto team very early on. And we have gone through many waves of crypto cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, etc. So we were involved from the very beginning. But those were not real investment opportunities.

The real "aha" moment happened about two and a half to three years ago when we started seeing stablecoins and realized they were solving real problems. Particularly some issues that, frankly, Visa itself is deeply involved in, such as money movement. We understand money movement very well— the question is: how do we accelerate the flow of funds?

So for me, this has been a continuous learning process, constantly engaging with people and trying to understand this space. At the same time, I am also thinking about where Visa can provide help. Where can we participate? What can we do?

If I look back at some of the product capabilities we later launched, such as stablecoin settlement—this means achieving 24/7 settlement. This means a transaction that might have settled at 8 PM on a Friday can now be settled at 9 PM on that Friday instead of waiting until Monday. This is actually accelerating the flow of funds, which is important for us and our partners.

Stablecoin settlement is one aspect. We are also using it. We are not just partners and investors; we are also users. For example, we accept USDC as settlement funds for pre-funding cross-border money flows conducted through the Visa Direct network.

Of course, there are stablecoin-supported payments, such as stablecoin-supported Visa cards, debit cards, and credit cards. From our understanding, about 70% to 90% of the transaction volume of credit and debit cards supported by stablecoins is on our network. So this journey has been about continuous learning, continuous engagement, and connecting various resources and teams.

Host (Drew Rogers):
Companies like Rain are card companies, and we love to learn about teams like that. Their collaboration with Visa, combining stablecoin settlement and cards, is very elegant. For many builders in the room who are working on infrastructure and assets, combinations like Visa and Rain can really drive and accelerate transaction volume.

From another perspective, what gaps, issues, pain points, or broader opportunities do you think still exist in the market? When you think about strategy internally with your team, are there areas where you feel "this should be where entrepreneurs focus their efforts"? What does that feel like now?

David Rolf:
I can answer this from several angles.

First, I believe there is still a need for more awareness education overall. Many people still think stablecoins are for those "crazy Degen DeFi players." But in reality, they are solving real problems. Just like we talked about the case of Rain and Western Union, these recipients are not crypto-native users at all. This is just using a technology to solve a problem.

If I look at some of the ongoing issues, such as on/off ramps, which is local currency liquidity. If you consider the so-called "stablecoin sandwich," when you need to convert stablecoins to local currency, many countries actually lack sufficient local currency liquidity. So there are many companies trying to solve the liquidity issue. This is a key factor that will help adoption.

The underlying technology itself is good. I think the problem lies more at the adoption level.

Additionally, there are complexities, such as being able to send stablecoins across different blockchains. How to manage these and ensure you send money to the correct address on the correct chain are issues that still exist. Although some are working on it, it is still in the "infrastructure stage." For example, "fat finger errors" are issues that everyone hopes the system can eliminate.

Another point I would mention is the ability to carry information along with payments. Stablecoins are a way to move funds, but moving funds usually comes with a lot of information. I believe there is a huge opportunity here in B2B payments. Stablecoins can play a role here, but it requires a lot of maturity and many things need to be built, such as connections with accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) systems. These are all in progress, but if we want to achieve a qualitative change, these are key directions.

Host (Drew Rogers):
Some people describe Visa as an "information transmission network," or as a protocol for transmitting status and information between different participants. What do you think?

If we combine this with stablecoins, what information do you think is valuable? For example, payer information, geographical information, or something else?

David Rolf:
I think that's a great description. I agree with that perspective. Part of Visa's work is indeed about information transmission. Of course, we are also transferring funds in practice while transmitting information related to those funds between partner banks.

I believe there is indeed a lot of information that can be attached during the flow of funds.

But at the same time, stablecoins also have some things you might "lose." For example, some people might ask: will all payments use this in the future? Maybe, but just like cash and checks, they all have drawbacks. Once the money is sent out, it's gone. Just like wire transfers.

I think stablecoins are a very good way to transfer funds; they may not always be the cheapest, but their advantage is "software speed."

I also believe there is a very large opportunity in programmability. Because it is on-chain, when you combine it with other systems, such as triggering automatic settlements or executing certain conditions automatically, it becomes very interesting. I know many people are already working on this.

But the emphasis I mentioned earlier is more about transmitting information along with payments in B2B scenarios, which needs to be developed and built.

Host (Drew Rogers):
In B2B scenarios, if you envision an "ideal state," which use cases currently have the most traction? Is it payouts, fund management, or something else?

David Rolf:
I think it’s still early, and it's hard to draw conclusions.

There are indeed some companies using stablecoins as a payout mechanism, especially those with a wide geographical distribution.

I also heard an interesting saying: if you work at a globally distributed stablecoin company but you are not getting paid in stablecoins, that seems a bit strange. So I think that reflects the state of early adopters.

But to truly become mainstream, a lot of infrastructure needs to be built, and a lot of compliance work is needed.

Especially in cross-border scenarios, I believe the core use case is cross-border money movement. But the key point is: when funds enter or leave the fiat currency system, that segment is very important, and you must be regulated locally.

So overall, this is still an early stage. But we are very excited about the use cases that everyone is trying and exploring. Many people within Visa are thinking about these issues every day, so we are happy to connect these resources.

Host (Drew Rogers):
This is a very interesting space. One last question.

If you were facing a room full of stablecoin builders—many of whom are industry veterans, entrepreneurs, infrastructure builders, and investors—what is the one thing you would most want them to know? About Visa, or Visa Ventures, what is the one thing you would most want them to understand?

David Rolf:
I would say the energy here is really strong. I was just upstairs, and that room was already full, with people outside, and the weather in San Francisco is great today.

When it comes to Visa, I think the most important thing to understand is: we are "enablers." We are a network.

We will look for ways to leverage the assets we have built to help businesses succeed. This applies to large companies as well as startups.

There are many different touchpoints within Visa, and we have thousands of people waking up every day thinking: how can we leverage the capabilities we have built to help our partners succeed?

So if you are a builder in this room, you should think: how can Visa help you? Based on our network, scale, relationships, and billions of endpoints and account credentials, what can we do for you?

I encourage everyone to think about this question and then find the right people to reach out to proactively.

When I talk to many companies, I always ask them: how do you want Visa to help you?

We have many assets, we are global, and we want to work with those companies that we can help succeed.

Host (Drew Rogers):
That's great. I'm glad you're in this space, and I appreciate your time. We'll talk again next time.

David Rolf:
Thank you, I enjoyed this conversation.

Host:
Have fun.

Host (Narration):
This concludes our exclusive conversation with David Rolf (Visa). A city next to the Golden Gate Bridge. A truly wondrous city.

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