Visa invested in Velocity. Here’s why that matters for payments.
I’ve spent most of my career around payment networks, acquirers, banks and the infrastructure that powers commerce.
When we started Velocity, one of the core convictions was that if the world was going to move onchain, it would happen through the payment infrastructure businesses already use every day. Stablecoins give us a better settlement layer, but enterprises were never going to wake up and decide they wanted a new “crypto stack.” They were going to adopt better ways to move money through the networks, banks and systems they already trust.
That made the role of the payment networks obvious to us from the start. And few matter more than Visa.
So I’m very excited to share that Visa has invested in Velocity as we find ways to accelerate stablecoin settlement, money movement and card programmes.
Networks will bring this technology into the mainstream
I’ve always believed stablecoins would reach scale by becoming part of existing payment flows, rather than creating a parallel system businesses had to adopt around them. That puts the networks in a central position to bring this infrastructure into everyday payments.
Visa already connects issuers and financial institutions, acquirers, and merchants around the world. That reach creates a powerful distribution layer for new infrastructure, bringing stablecoins into settlement, money movement and card programmes without asking businesses to rebuild the way they operate.
A merchant shouldn’t need to care that its settlement happened onchain. An acquirer shouldn’t have to rebuild its treasury operation around blockchain technology. Stablecoins can sit underneath those experiences and improve how money moves behind them.
I’ve also been impressed by the pace at which Visa is moving. They have gone from exploring stablecoin settlement to putting meaningful volume over these rails, expanding the assets and networks they support, and building stablecoin capabilities deeper into the network.
For me, that is what makes Visa such an important part of this transition. They have the reach to take stablecoins from infrastructure used by a relatively small part of the market and make them useful across global payments.
“Stablecoins are playing an increasingly important role in reshaping how value moves across the Visa ecosystem, and companies like Velocity are helping accelerate adoption and unlock new opportunities for our customers and partners,” said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships at Visa. “We’re excited to invest in Eric and the Velocity team as they build the infrastructure needed to bring stablecoin-powered money movement to every business.”
That shared view of where payments are heading is a big part of why I’m so excited to have Visa investing in Velocity. We started the company believing that stablecoins would become part of the infrastructure behind global payments, and that getting there would require working closely with the networks already connecting the industry.
Bringing the Visa ecosystem onchain
What excites me most about Visa’s investment is the alignment behind where this market is heading.
Visa brings a level of distribution that is hard to replicate: nearly five billion payment credentials,connecting nearly 14,500 financial institutions, including issuers and acquirers, and more than 175 million merchant locations globally. As stablecoins become more deeply embedded across Visa’s ecosystem, the opportunity goes far beyond adding another way to settle. By enabling real-time settlement and reducing the capital acquirers and issuers need to keep trapped in prefunded accounts, stablecoins can make the ecosystem itself more efficient. That frees those businesses to put more capital back to work, investing in growth, better products and services, and ultimately a better experience for the consumers and merchants they serve. And because this happens through the networks, products and relationships they already rely on, it does not require changing how businesses or consumers interact with payments.
That is the transition we built Velocity for. We want stablecoin infrastructure to sit underneath the way businesses already move money, giving treasury teams, payment companies and financial institutions access to faster settlement, more flexible liquidity and 24/7 money movement without requiring them to operate a separate onchain stack.
Visa has the reach to bring that infrastructure into payment flows across the world. Velocity is building the infrastructure to help make it usable within them. We are excited to help bring more of the Visa ecosystem onchain.
A new phase for stablecoin infrastructure
Visa’s investment builds on our $38 million Series A announced in July. Visa is joined by Haun Ventures, Circle Ventures, Translink Capital and Mirana Ventures as new investors in Velocity.
I’ve followed Haun’s work in stablecoins for a long time. They backed Bridge, they backed BVNK, and now they are backing Velocity. Across those investments, you can see how the category itself is evolving.
A few years ago, much of the work was about proving stablecoins could move money faster and more efficiently. That case has largely been made. What comes next is getting this infrastructure deeper into the systems that already underpin payments, banking and treasury.
That is why it means so much to have Visa and Haun backing Velocity together.
Haun brings a long view across several iterations of stablecoin infrastructure. Visa brings the scale, distribution and relationships to help move that infrastructure into global payment flows. For Velocity, that is exactly the part of the market we want to build for.
We started the company believing stablecoins would become part of the infrastructure behind global payments, rather than a separate ecosystem running alongside it. Seeing one of the world’s largest payment networks move with this level of conviction, and having an investor like Haun back that direction, gives us even more confidence in where this is going.
There is a lot still to build. We’re very excited to be doing it with great partners like Visa.
