Overview
- Visa announced on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 that it has added stablecoin prefunding, payouts and direct wallet transfers to its Visa Direct real-time payments network for selected business clients.
- Zero Hash will supply the backend services for these flows, including settlement, liquidity management, custody and regulatory controls so Visa Direct can process blockchain-native token transfers without rebuilding its core rails.
- Eligible Visa Direct customers will be able to prefund merchant accounts with approved stablecoins and send faster payouts directly to recipients’ digital wallets through the same network.
- Markets reacted modestly to the news as Visa shares fell about 0.23% after the announcement, and analysts flagged that wider adoption will face heavy regulatory scrutiny across jurisdictions.
- The move builds on Visa’s January BVNK work and the July 16 VSP launch supporting Open USD, and it could raise stablecoin demand, reshape cross-border pay-outs for gig and remittance users, and pressure rival payment platforms to expand blockchain settlement options.