Visa has added the Monad blockchain to its stablecoin settlement program, allowing participating issuers and acquirers to settle payments through the network.
Monad joins a crowded roster
Monad is the latest addition to a growing roster of blockchains supported by Visa for stablecoin settlement. The existing networks are Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, Circle’s Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon and Tempo.
Five networks joined recently. Visa added Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon and Tempo on April 29, 2026, bringing the total to nine.
The idea is simpler than it may sound. When you tap a Visa card, money eventually has to move between the bank that issued your card and the bank serving the merchant. This behind-the-scenes process is called settlement.
Settlement traditionally takes place over legacy banking rails. Visa’s program offers issuers and acquirers another option: settling in stablecoins over a public or institutional blockchain.
The numbers behind the expansion
The program has expanded quickly. When Visa announced the April batch of networks, its annualized stablecoin settlement run rate reached $7 billion, a 50% increase quarter over quarter.
By October 2026, the figure had risen to an annualized run rate of $25 billion. Visa called that a tenfold increase year over year.
At that point, the program was operating across 10 blockchains in all five of Visa’s geographic regions and supported five stablecoins.
More than 225 stablecoin-linked card programs are active in over 50 countries. Transaction volumes on those programs are growing at more than 150% year over year.
Monad was on Visa’s radar before its formal addition. In August 2026, the chain appeared in Visa’s on-chain analytics with nearly 1 million stablecoin transactions.
Why Visa keeps saying yes to new chains
Visa has described itself as both “stablecoin agnostic” and “blockchain agnostic.” The company is not seeking to crown a winning chain or dollar token.
On some networks, Visa’s strategy goes further: it acts as a validator on certain chains, including Tempo and Canton. That means it helps operate the infrastructure rather than simply using it.
What Monad’s addition means for the stablecoin market
For Monad, being included is a credibility marker. Its appearance alongside Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche in a Visa settlement program signals that a major payments incumbent considers the chain usable for real money movement.
For the broader market, the trend is the bigger story. Visa’s run rate rose from $7 billion to $25 billion in a single year, while the number of supported chains continues to grow.
Settlement volumes remain small compared with Visa’s fiat operations, and expanding across many chains adds operational complexity. Stablecoin regulation and network reliability also remain open questions.
Source: cryptobriefing.com. Adapted by NBTC.
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