---
title: "Visa's stablecoin settlement passes $25 billion a year, up tenfold"
description: "OpenAI's new agent wallet runs on Visa's cards with no crypto in it, while stablecoin issuers settle what they owe on Visa's own rail. Two separate books, one network collecting on both, and the rules for an agent's disputed purchase are still unwritten."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Economy"
published: 2026-11-15T19:08:33.297Z
modified: 2026-11-15T19:08:33.297Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/visa-s-stablecoin-settlement-passes-25-billion-a-year-up-tenfold
language: en
keywords: "Visa, Stablecoins, Agentic Commerce, Payments, OpenAI"
---

# Visa's stablecoin settlement passes $25 billion a year, up tenfold

> OpenAI's new agent wallet runs on Visa's cards with no crypto in it, while stablecoin issuers settle what they owe on Visa's own rail. Two separate books, one network collecting on both, and the rules for an agent's disputed purchase are still unwritten.

## Agent payments went live on the card networks

[On November 13, 2026 OpenAI switched on ChatGPT Wallet](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-13/openai-debuts-new-chatgpt-payment-method-with-card-networks) with [American Express](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/american-express), [Mastercard](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/mastercard) and [Visa](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/visa): a card is entered once, each purchase needs a fingerprint or a face scan, and the agent never sees the card number [1]. [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai) says the wallet uses no blockchain and no stablecoin, only fiat rails [2].

The same day, [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta) and [Sierra](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sierra), the agent-software firm co-founded by former [Salesforce](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/salesforce) co-chief Bret Taylor, released Poppy, a protocol that lets an assistant prove which user it acts for at a merchant [2]. The stake for Visa holders: the network collects on both rails, and the cost of an agent's mistake has no payer yet.

## Two books, billed separately

After a card is tapped, money must move between the bank that issued the card and the bank serving the merchant. Visa's settlement program lets those issuers and acquirers settle in stablecoins over a blockchain instead of legacy rails [3]. The book widened twice this week: the Monad blockchain joined as the tenth supported chain on November 10 [3], and on November 12 Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, [added Western Union's dollar token USDPT to settle what partners owe on VisaNet](https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-11-12-visa-adds-western-unions-usdpt-stablecoin-to-its-settlement-network-in-anchorage-tie-up-438520), Visa's card network [4].

The agent wallet earns the other book: each purchase runs as an ordinary card transaction, rewards and chargeback protections kept, so Visa collects the fee it already collects on cards [1][2]. Mastercard sits on both launch lists too [2]; what it did not show this quarter is a second book.

## Settlement grew tenfold while cards grew 9 percent

[On the October 27 call](https://www.pymnts.com/earnings/2026/visa-credentials-reach-5-2-billion-as-network-expands-into-agentic-commerce/), chief executive [Ryan McInerney](https://theinference.org/markets/people/ryan-mcinerney) put the settlement business above [a $25 billion annualized run rate](https://theinference.org/article/visa-s-25-billion-stablecoin-run-rate-comes-with-no-revenue-figure-and-renewals-decide-2027), ten times last year's pace, across five stablecoins on ten blockchains [5]. The run rate was $7 billion when Visa added five chains in April [3].

The card book is larger and slower. More than 225 stablecoin-linked card programs are live, up more than 70 percent on the year, on roughly five million cards in more than 50 countries; [transaction volume is up more than 150 percent](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/visa-reports-tenfold-increase-stablecoin-124500039.html) [6]. All payments volume grew 9 percent to $4.1 trillion in the quarter, on net revenue of $12.1 billion, up 13 percent [7].

*Chart: **Stablecoin card volume grew 150 percent; all payments volume 9 percent** Bar chart of year-over-year growth in Visa's fiscal fourth quarter: stablecoin-linked card volume up more than 150 percent, stablecoin-linked card programs up more than 70 percent, all payments volume up 9 percent*

*Year-over-year growth for Visa's fiscal fourth quarter, ended September 30, 2026. Settlement grew tenfold on a $25 billion annualized run rate, a different period basis, so it is noted here rather than plotted. Sources: Visa earnings call of October 27, 2026, via PYMNTS and Yahoo Finance; Zacks. [5][6][7]*

## Where an agent's mistake would land

For now the card networks keep the agent channel, and [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) is the merchant refusing the risk: it has blocked Meta's Muse assistant from buying at all [8]. The wallet preserves a cardholder's chargeback rights [2]; banks have not said those rights cover a purchase the assistant chose and the human confirmed with a face scan [2]. [Visa booked a $474 million litigation provision last quarter, down from $903 million a year earlier](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/V-N/pressreleases/8503484/visa-q4-earnings-beat-estimates-on-strong-payment-volumes/) [7]. Agent disputes, if they come, land on that line.

## What the January print decides

The banks are building their own coin regardless: 21 institutions, [Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs), [Citigroup](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/citigroup) and [Bank of America](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bank-of-america) among them, have [committed about $270 million to Project Faro](https://decrypt.co/382953/goldman-citi-global-banks-270-million-challenge-crypto-stablecoin-giants), a dollar stablecoin targeted for the first half of 2027 [9]. McInerney framed the race himself: "It is clear that in agentic, trust is the biggest barrier to scale" [5]. The January-quarter print shows which book grew.

## Takeaway

Visa earns on both books, agent card purchases and stablecoin settlement at a $25 billion annualized run rate, while the rules for who pays for an agent's disputed purchase are still unwritten.

## Sources

1. [Bloomberg, "OpenAI Debuts New ChatGPT Payment Method With Card Networks", 13 November 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-13/openai-debuts-new-chatgpt-payment-method-with-card-networks)
2. [KuCoin News (Chaincatcher), "OpenAI and Meta Collaborate to Enable Agent-Driven Commerce", 14 November 2026](https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/openai-and-meta-collaborate-to-enable-agent-driven-commerce)
3. [Crypto Briefing, "Visa adds Monad to its stablecoin settlement network lineup", 10 November 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/visa-adds-monad-stablecoin-settlement/)
4. [The Block, "Visa adds Western Union's USDPT stablecoin to its settlement network in Anchorage tie-up", 12 November 2026](https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-11-12-visa-adds-western-unions-usdpt-stablecoin-to-its-settlement-network-in-anchorage-tie-up-438520)
5. [PYMNTS, "Visa Credentials Reach 5.2 Billion as Network Expands Into Agentic Commerce", 27 October 2026](https://www.pymnts.com/earnings/2026/visa-credentials-reach-5-2-billion-as-network-expands-into-agentic-commerce/)
6. [Yahoo Finance, "Visa Reports Tenfold Increase In Stablecoin Settlements", 29 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/visa-reports-tenfold-increase-stablecoin-124500039.html)
7. [Zacks Investment Research via The Globe and Mail, "Visa Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong Payment Volumes", 28 October 2026](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/V-N/pressreleases/8503484/visa-q4-earnings-beat-estimates-on-strong-payment-volumes/)
8. [Live Mint (The Wall Street Journal), "AI bots are using credit cards. Banks are racing to keep up.", 13 November 2026](https://www.livemint.com/global/ai-bots-are-using-credit-cards-banks-are-racing-to-keep-up-11794532545442.html)
9. [Decrypt, "Goldman, Citi and Global Banks Commit $270 Million to Challenge Crypto's Stablecoin Giants", 10 November 2026](https://decrypt.co/382953/goldman-citi-global-banks-270-million-challenge-crypto-stablecoin-giants)


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Visa's stablecoin settlement passes $25 billion a year, up tenfold — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/visa-s-stablecoin-settlement-passes-25-billion-a-year-up-tenfold