Visa and Brale are piloting a settlement system using the SBC stablecoin on the Canton Network, a privacy-preserving blockchain for financial institutions. The proof-of-concept aims to test how blockchain can support institutional payments while meeting bank-grade privacy and compliance standards. The move is part of Visa's broader stablecoin settlement initiative, which has reached a $7B annualized run rate, and comes as payment giants like Stripe and Mastercard also explore the technology.
Visa-Brale stablecoin settlement pilot
- ▪The announcement of the Visa-Brale pilot does not disclose settlement volumes, specific counterparties, or a timeline for moving to production
- ▪Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot now spans nine blockchains, including Canton Network, Base, Polygon, Arc, Tempo, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar
- ▪As of April, Visa's broader stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate, a 50% increase from the prior quarter
- ▪The pilot program is designed to test how privacy-enabled blockchain infrastructure can support institutional payment flows
- ▪Visa and Brale have initiated a proof-of-concept to test stablecoin-based settlement using the SBC stablecoin on the Canton Network
Canton Network privacy architecture
- ▪The Canton Network is a permissioned, privacy-preserving blockchain built by Digital Asset for regulated financial institutions
- ▪The Canton Network allows participants to transact on shared infrastructure without exposing sensitive transaction data to other network members
SBC stablecoin infrastructure
- ▪Brale provides monthly reserve attestations for its SBC stablecoin from a third-party accounting firm
- ▪The SBC stablecoin is natively issued on the Canton Network, which avoids the settlement risks associated with bridging assets
- ▪SBC is a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Brale that is fully backed by cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. government bonds
Canton institutional adoption
- ▪More than 30 financial institutions back the Canton Network, including JPMorgan, HSBC, and DTCC
- ▪JPMorgan's Kinexys unit plans to issue its JPM Coin (JPMD) natively on Canton, and HSBC completed a tokenized deposit pilot on the network in April
Permissioned blockchain settlement landscape
- ▪U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is also reportedly considering participating in the new stablecoin platform
- ▪The total stablecoin market capitalization is approximately $325 billion, with Tether's USDT being the largest at $115 billion
- ▪Global payment networks Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are reportedly close to introducing a new, shared stablecoin platform
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