CoinDesk
Stripe, Visa and Mastercard are close to introducing a shared stablecoin platform, with Coinbase also weighing participation, according to three people familiar with the plans. The four names collectively touch the majority of US card volume and the two largest US-licensed crypto exchanges, and the consortium would pull each of their recently-acquired stablecoin stacks under a single settlement rail.
The deal would land at a moment when the global stablecoin market has grown to roughly $325 billion by CoinGecko data, dominated by Tether's $115 billion USDT and Circle's $76 billion USDC. USDC matters specifically because Coinbase sits on a revenue-sharing agreement with Circle that runs through August, under which Coinbase keeps 100% of interest income on USDC held on its platform and splits off-platform and DeFi revenue 50/50. A shared stablecoin platform with Visa, Mastercard and Stripe would put Coinbase in the awkward position of negotiating its own successor economics with Circle while jointly building competing infrastructure with the card networks.
Why it matters
Each of the four names has spent the last 18 months quietly assembling the same stack. Stripe bought Bridge for $1.1 billion in late 2024. Mastercard acquired BVNK earlier this year and said this week it plans to expand always-on stablecoin settlement. Coinbase launched a white-label stablecoin service and a Coinbase Business payments product late last year. A shared platform is the natural endpoint of that parallel M&A — a single rail that lets each network resell the same settlement to its merchant base rather than running four competing ones.
The signal for the rest of the industry is structural: the largest closed-loop payment networks on the planet are moving from "stablecoin-curious" to "stablecoin-native". Card acquirers, merchant processors and software platforms that have been waiting for one of these four to set the standard are about to get four at once.
Market impact
The timing matters for USDC specifically.
Frequently asked questions
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Which companies are behind the new stablecoin platform?
Stripe, Visa and Mastercard are close to launching a shared stablecoin platform, with Coinbase also weighing participation, according to three people familiar with the plans.
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How large is the current stablecoin market?
The global stablecoin market has grown to roughly $325 billion by CoinGecko data, dominated by Tether's $115 billion USDT and Circle's $76 billion USDC.
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What stablecoin infrastructure have these companies already acquired?
Stripe bought Bridge for $1.1 billion in late 2024, Mastercard acquired BVNK earlier this year, and Coinbase launched a white-label stablecoin service plus Coinbase Business for stablecoin payments in late 2024.
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What is the Coinbase-Circle revenue-sharing deal?
Since August 2023, Coinbase and Circle have had a revenue-sharing agreement under which Coinbase keeps 100% of interest income on USDC held on its platform and splits off-platform and DeFi revenue 50/50. The deal comes up for renewal in August.
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Why does this matter for Tether?
A shared platform from the largest US card networks could offer always-on stablecoin settlement to any merchant globally, putting pressure on USDT's offshore distribution moat in cross-border remittance and emerging-market trading.
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