Bridge, a stablecoin company owned by Visa and Stripe, has globally expanded the stablecoin-linked card issuance product unveiled last year, which focused on Central and South American countries.
Lead Bank, which was announced as a participant in Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot earlier this year, is also working with Bridge’s stablecoin infrastructure, according to a press release.
Bridge-enabled stablecoin-linked cards are now available in 18 countries, using crypto platforms such as Phantom and MetaMask, with planned expansion to more than 100 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East by the end of the year, the companies announced Tuesday.
“Expanding our work with Bridge gives us an additional way to integrate the speed, transparency and programmability of stablecoins directly into the settlement process. This step gives our partners greater choice in how they move value and strengthens Visa’s role as a trusted network connecting stablecoins and the global payments ecosystem,” said Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa.
Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams said the expansion with Visa will allow companies that launch their own custom stablecoins to seamlessly use them in their card programs.
