Visa Adds Western Union's USDPT Stablecoin to VisaNet Settlement
Visa and Anchorage Digital have enabled USDPT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank for Western Union, to settle eligible obligations on VisaNet. It is the first Anchorage-issued token to receive this status, and the companies say more of its stablecoins could follow.
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The Settlement Arrangement
Visa and eligible partners can now use USDPT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued and custodied by Anchorage Digital Bank, to settle their obligations on VisaNet, the companies said in announcements this week. It is the first Anchorage-issued token to receive that status, and the agreement creates a framework for adding other Anchorage-issued tokens later.
Anchorage's announcement identifies Solana as USDPT's blockchain and Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. as its issuer. The Visa announcement does not separately specify the settlement chain.
Why Anchorage Is Positioning Itself Here
Anchorage operates what it describes as America's first federally chartered crypto bank, overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. CEO Nathan McCauley argued that "speed alone won't bring institutions onchain," and that institutions want "a regulated institution behind the money."
The company's wider aim is to act as a settlement bank for stablecoins at institutional scale, covering custody and settlement infrastructure as well as issuance. Its roster already includes Tether's U.S.-regulated USAT, Western Union's USDPT, and Ethena's USDtb, each redeemable one-to-one for dollars. Its Atlas network handles off-exchange settlement, collateral management and cross-border transfers.
Visa's Broader Stablecoin Push
Visa has been building stablecoin settlement across several networks, including Base and Polygon. Visa disclosed a settlement run rate above $25 billion on its October 27 earnings call, ten times the year-earlier level, and said its settlement services covered 10 blockchains and all five of its geographic regions. Chief executive Ryan McInerney said more than 225 stablecoin-linked card programs were operating, reaching 5 million cards in over 50 countries.
That $25 billion figure is an annualized pace, not total volume for a fiscal period, and it is not a measure of USDPT activity. Visa's Monad settlement integration, announced November 10, gives card issuers and processors another chain for settling obligations, though the Monad Foundation did not say which stablecoins would be used there. A separate Lloyds Banking Group pilot settled $750,000 of obligations over seven days, and Visa said funds reached it in the United States in under an hour, including on weekends.
Western Union's Use Case and Open Questions
Western Union launched USDPT on May 4 as a dollar-backed asset for payments across its network. Its release listed treasury and agent settlement among planned uses, alongside exchange access, consumer spending and a Digital Asset Network linking exchanges with payout infrastructure. On August 4 it launched Stablecard with Rain, a USDPT wallet and linked Visa card available in 37 markets, which lets recipients hold dollar value and spend through Visa merchants or ATMs.
Anchorage says round-the-clock stablecoin settlement could reduce the working capital tied up in prefunded destination accounts and speed reconciliation. Neither company has published a reduction in remittance or cash-out fees linked to the Visa integration, and no savings figure has been given for senders or recipients. The announcements also do not say that every Anchorage-issued stablecoin has been accepted; support so far covers USDPT only.
Why It Matters
For Traders
USDPT's VisaNet settlement role is a partnership announcement with no published volume, so it is not yet a measurable flow signal for positions in the near term.
For Investors
Visa and Anchorage are building regulated stablecoin settlement rails, a structural shift in how card networks may clear obligations over the coming years.
For Builders
Teams integrating with VisaNet should note that USDPT settles on Solana per the issuer's release, while Visa has not specified the settlement chain for this arrangement.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
