Visa issues RFP for stablecoin settlement partner after BVNK moves to Mastercard

Key points

Visa has issued a request-for-product to find a replacement stablecoin settlement and OTC partner after BVNK, its previous partner, was acquired by Mastercard earlier in 2026.
The prospective partner must hold cryptocurrency exchange licences in the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore, a multi-jurisdiction requirement Visa itself says reduces the pool of viable candidates.
The chosen partner will also support settlement for the Open USD stablecoin project, a Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard initiative built to handle multiple stablecoins.
Visa launched its Stablecoin Platform last month with OUSD as the first supported token, offering banks and fintechs tools to access, store, redeem, and move stablecoins.
Stripe's $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in late 2024 is cited as a catalyst that intensified competitive pressure on card networks to secure dedicated stablecoin infrastructure.

Visa has opened a formal request-for-product process to find a new stablecoin settlement and over-the-counter partner, following the acquisition of its previous partner BVNK by Mastercard earlier this year. Documents seen by CoinDesk show the search centres on a single counterparty holding cryptocurrency exchange licences across four jurisdictions: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. That licensing requirement narrows the field of credible candidates considerably, Visa has acknowledged.

The incoming partner will also be expected to handle settlement for the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin project, a multi-party initiative fronted by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard that is designed to support a basket of stablecoins. Visa launched its Stablecoin Platform last month with OUSD as the initial supported token, giving banks, fintechs, and payment providers the ability to access, store, redeem, and move stablecoins.

The broader competitive context is hard to ignore. Stripe’s acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge in late 2024 for $1.1 billion accelerated the pace at which the major card networks began securing their own stablecoin capabilities. The total stablecoin market capitalisation now sits at roughly $300 billion according to CoinGecko, and that scale has made settlement infrastructure a strategic priority rather than an ancillary capability. Visa declined to comment on the RFP.

What this means

distribution & BD: Any firm with exchange licences spanning the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore is now on Visa's shortlist whether or not it has actively pursued the relationship; the RFP is a live commercial signal worth responding to, and firms that fall one jurisdiction short should assess whether a licence gap is closable in a timeframe that keeps them relevant to the process.
compliance/legal/risk: The four-jurisdiction licence stack Visa is requiring sets an implicit market standard for what 'qualified stablecoin settlement counterparty' means at card-network scale, which is worth factoring into how legal teams frame their own licensing roadmaps and counterparty due-diligence criteria.
founder & strategy: BVNK's acquisition by Mastercard has demonstrated that a stablecoin infrastructure firm embedded deeply enough in a card network's settlement layer can become an acquisition target; founders building in that layer should consider whether their partnership structures inadvertently foreclose that outcome or, conversely, whether exclusivity arrangements with one network accelerate it.
regulatory & policy affairs: Visa's explicit requirement for exchange licences in four named jurisdictions illustrates how card-network procurement is beginning to operationalise regulatory geography, suggesting that jurisdictions absent from such shortlists may find their stablecoin frameworks materially disadvantaged in attracting infrastructure investment.

Original source

Coindesk Markets desk

coindesk.com

Visa issues RFP for stablecoin settlement partner after BVNK moves to Mastercard

Key points

Original source

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