Visa backs 4 stablecoins; S.Korea warns of won depeg risk

Global payment giant Visa (NASDAQ: V) will now support four new stablecoins on its payment platform as interest in the fiat-pegged tokens skyrockets.

Elsewhere, the South Korean central bank says that private issuers of won-backed stablecoins could land the country in a financial crisis and wants licensed local banks to take the lead on issuance.

Visa dives further into stablecoins

Speaking during a fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Ryan McInerney revealed that Visa has recorded a 400% spike in spending on Visa cards linked to stablecoins year-on-year.

Positive regulations have provided the largest tailwind for stablecoin adoption. The passing of the GENIUS Act in the United States has had the most impact, giving retail users the confidence to dive into stablecoins. Visa has been among the biggest beneficiaries of the increased traction due to its vast payment network.

The California-based company is now doubling down on its stablecoin strategy, McInerney says.

“We are adding support for four stablecoins, running on four unique blockchains, representing two currencies, that we can accept and convert to over 25 traditional fiat currencies,” he told investors.

Since its first involvement in 2020, Visa has facilitated over $140 billion in ‘crypto’ and stablecoin transfers, he added. Of this, $100 billion went to purchasing digital assets, while the rest was for payment of goods and services. Today, the company offers stablecoin support in 40 countries through over 130 card programs, the CEO revealed.

Visa’s increasing investment in stablecoins could revitalize its stock, whose growth has lagged in 2025, says Chicago-based investment bank William Blair. Since the turn of the year, the stock price has only risen 8.5%, lagging behind other financial heavyweights, which have averaged over 20% growth year-to-date.

Analysts from William Blair say that the stablecoin integration will position Visa as one of the key players in the new financial order.

“The real stablecoin opportunity is cross-border payments, in our opinion. Stablecoins can sharply lower the cost of cross-border B2B commerce, speed settlement, and reduce errors,” the analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Currently, cross-border payments constitute less than 20% of Visa’s transaction volume, but with stablecoins, this could skyrocket, they added.

Visa will face stiff competition in stablecoin-powered cross-border transfers from incumbents who have launched similar products. The latest is Western Union (NASDAQ: WU), which announced a week ago that it’s testing stablecoin payments for its remittance services.

Korea’s won-pegged stablecoins depeg risk

In South Korea, the central bank has warned that won-pegged stablecoins face depeg risk and wants commercial banks to take the lead in issuance.

In a recent report, the Bank of Korea (BOK) defended its regulations and the pace of its execution. On the ‘crypto’ industry claiming that Korea needs won stablecoins or it risks a threat to its monetary sovereignty from U.S. dollar alternatives, the top bank described it as “excessive marketing rhetoric.”

BOK’s defense of its conservative stance comes at a time when some key leaders in Korea and beyond have called for won-pegged stablecoins to preserve the country’s monetary sovereignty.

The latest is Michael Casey, a senior advisor at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. Speaking at an event in Gyeongju on Thursday, Casey warned that South Korea could cede further ground to the USD if it lags behind in approving local stablecoins.

“If there are no stablecoins based on a country’s own currency, the use of dollar-based stablecoins will increase, and the dollar’s dominance will strengthen. If this happens, countries’ monetary sovereignty could be seriously undermined,” he stated.

Beyond monetary sovereignty, the regulator further warned that won stablecoins also pose a significant threat to financial stability in the East Asian country. It noted that while the technology underpinning the tokens may be secure, currency “operates not on technology, but on trust.”

“When discussing won-denominated stablecoins, which aspire to be a new currency, the first question to be asked is not ‘Is the technology feasible?’ but ‘Is trust possible?’,” it said.

South Korea is no stranger to stablecoin collapses. The biggest industry disaster—Terraform’s UST algorithmic stablecoin—was developed by two Koreans: Do Kwon and Daniel Shin.

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