Visa and Mastercard pour cold water on "stablecoins": Difficult to implement in financially mature countries like the United States

Visa and Mastercard believe that in mature markets, the lack of a strong everyday payment demand makes it difficult in the short term to shake the core position of existing card organizations.

Senior executives of international card organizations state that mature markets lack rigid demand

Recently, the two major U.S. payment giants Visa and Mastercard issued a cautious outlook on the prospects of stablecoins for everyday payments during their earnings call. Ryan McInerney pointed out that in markets like the United States with mature digital financial infrastructure, consumers can already complete payments through checking or savings accounts, mobile payments, and real-time transfers, and stablecoins have not demonstrated a clear product-market fit.

In other words, for general consumer scenarios, “faster settlement” does not necessarily mean “better experience,” especially when existing payment methods are already smooth enough, and users lack motivation to switch. This statement has cooled recent market expectations that “stablecoins will disrupt payments,” and also shows that traditional card networks remain confident that their core position will not be easily shaken in the short term.

Technological advantages exist, but risks and scenarios are still limited

From a technical perspective, stablecoins do have advantages such as on-chain real-time clearing, 24/7 operation, and lower cross-border costs. JPMorgan has previously described stablecoins as a “blockchain-based fiat currency,” which may outperform traditional systems in certain cross-border or specific fund transfer scenarios. However, the market also remembers the algorithmic stablecoin collapse in 2022, which shows that 24-hour continuous trading can also mean that a bank run could spread instantly.

Image source: JPMorgan JPMorgan previously described stablecoins as a “blockchain-based fiat currency”

In contrast, Michael Miebach’s attitude is more open, but he still positions stablecoins as “another form of currency” supported by his network, rather than a disruptive main axis. He mentioned that collaborations with wallet and blockchain providers are mostly focused on asset purchases, on-chain settlement, and transaction support, with mainstream uses still leaning towards investment and trading rather than supermarket or daily consumer payments.

On-chain transaction volume is active but has not translated into a retail payment revolution

It is worth noting that the total on-chain settlement volume is not low. According to data from Glassnode, Bitcoin’s on-chain transfer amount in 2025 reached $25 trillion, even surpassing the annual processing volume of a single traditional card network (Visa: $17 trillion and Mastercard: $11 trillion). However, this includes a large amount of institutional transfers and high-frequency trading, which does not equate to increased retail payment penetration.

Meanwhile, fintech bank SoFi shows a more proactive stance, incorporating crypto assets into its overall financial services, attempting to combine banking-grade compliance with blockchain innovation. However, for Visa and Mastercard, stablecoins are more like infrastructure options that need to be integrated rather than imminent replacements. At least in mature markets, payment habits, regulatory requirements, and risk considerations still make stablecoins a long way from truly “replacing card payments.”

This content is summarized by Crypto Agent from various sources, reviewed and edited by “Crypto City.” It is still in the training phase and may contain logical biases or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.