Visa is searching for a new stablecoin settlement partner following Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK, which closed on August 3. The move forces Visa to secure a provider licensed across the U.S., Canada, the UK and Singapore.
Mastercard's purchase of the blockchain infrastructure firm gives the card network direct control over stablecoin settlement capabilities that Visa previously accessed through BVNK as a third party. BVNK operated as a neutral rails provider for both networks. With BVNK now owned by a competitor, Visa must identify an alternative that meets the same four-jurisdiction regulatory footprint.
Visa's request for proposals, issued this week, specifies the licensing requirements and settlement scope the company needs to maintain parity with Mastercard's new in-house capability. The card network has not named candidates or disclosed a timeline for selecting a replacement. Stablecoin settlement infrastructure has become a competitive asset among payments processors as central banks and regulators worldwide move toward digital currency frameworks.
Mastercard announced the BVNK acquisition as part of a broader push into blockchain and tokenized asset infrastructure. The company said at the time that owning BVNK would let it build proprietary stablecoin and central bank digital currency capabilities across its network of card issuers and payment institutions. BVNK's multi-jurisdiction licensing portfolio was cited as a core asset of the deal.
The competitive split marks the first major reshuffling of stablecoin settlement partnerships among major card networks since the technology began gaining institutional adoption. Both Visa and Mastercard had relied on third-party providers to handle the technical and regulatory complexity of operating across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously. Mastercard's move to internalize that function means Visa must secure an alternative with the same scope.
Visa's four-jurisdiction requirement mirrors the global reach Mastercard now controls in-house through BVNK. Any partner Visa selects will need to demonstrate both regulatory approval and operational capacity in those markets. The selection process will determine which independent stablecoin infrastructure firms gain major card-network backing over the next 12 to 18 months.
Mastercard's ownership of BVNK gives it settlement infrastructure across four major payment jurisdictions at a moment when tokenized finance is expanding among institutional and retail participants. Visa's search begins from a position of having to catch up on what was previously a shared vendor relationship. The speed at which Visa names a replacement will show how quickly the market for stablecoin settlement is consolidating among card-network operators.
