Key Highlights
- Visa has become part of the BLOOM initiative, spearheaded by Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS), to explore stablecoin-based settlement systems.
- The payment processor selected Nium as its inaugural BLOOM framework collaborator for this experimental program.
- The trial aims to enable continuous settlement operations spanning seven days, encompassing weekends and public holidays, leveraging regulated stablecoins pegged to USD and euro.
- The company currently facilitates stablecoin settlements on nine distinct blockchain platforms with approximately $7 billion in yearly transaction volume.
- Neither implementation timeline nor specific volume projections have been revealed publicly.
The global payment giant Visa has entered Singapore’s BLOOM program, an initiative orchestrated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), collaborating with cross-border payment provider Nium to trial stablecoin settlement mechanisms. The company disclosed $11.63 billion in net revenue for its fiscal third quarter ending in July, showing a 10% annual increase in both payment volume and transaction processing.
This experimental program will evaluate whether stablecoins anchored to the U.S. dollar and euro can facilitate payment settlement operations throughout the entire week, eliminating traditional banking hour restrictions. Conventional settlement processes remain constrained by business day schedules, creating interruptions where financial institutions face operational limitations.
Under the BLOOM initiative, Visa designated Nium as its initial collaborative partner. Together, the organizations will assess how digital currency settlement can minimize processing delays and provide financial entities with accelerated fund accessibility.
The trial concentrates on the underlying settlement infrastructure rather than customer-facing transaction initiation. According to Visa, stablecoins offer the potential for enhanced payment flow programmability and enable institutions to execute settlement operations beyond conventional banking schedules.
Visa’s Growing Blockchain Payment Network
The payment processing leader currently maintains stablecoin settlement capabilities spanning nine distinct blockchain ecosystems, encompassing Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc and Tempo. In April, the organization revealed an annualized transaction rate of approximately $7 billion for stablecoin settlements, representing a 50% quarterly increase.
By mid-year, Visa indicated that participating issuing banks within its blockchain-based programs gained the ability to process settlements continuously throughout the week. The company has simultaneously pursued efforts to expand this functionality to acquiring banks that manage merchant funds following card transaction clearance.
During the July quarterly earnings presentation, CEO Ryan McInerney characterized Visa’s digital currency strategy as “multi-coin, multi-chain,” emphasizing the company’s decision against endorsing any singular stablecoin. The BLOOM experimental program aligns with this philosophy, maintaining flexibility regarding specific token selection.
Adeline Kim, serving as Visa’s group country manager for Regional Southeast Asia, emphasized the significance of interoperability between various monetary systems. “The future of payments will be shaped by how different forms of money and payment networks work together for different use cases,” Kim said.
Nium’s Contribution and BLOOM’s Extended Framework
This partnership builds upon Nium’s April implementation of USDC payment capabilities through Coinbase, which established stablecoin-powered international payment services across its network spanning over 190 nations. This infrastructure enables companies to finance payouts utilizing USDC and complete settlements in either digital currencies or local fiat currencies, eliminating the requirement for prefunded accounts across multiple jurisdictions.
Amaresh Mohan, serving as Nium’s chief risk and compliance officer, explained that the BLOOM collaboration focuses on developing systems that bridge conventional payment infrastructure with stablecoin-based rails.
The BLOOM program launched by MAS in 2025 encompasses participants including Circle, DBS, OCBC, Partior, Stripe and UOB. The initiative expands upon Project Orchid, MAS’s previous exploration of programmable currency systems.
An additional BLOOM experiment revealed in March featured Ripple and supply-chain financing company Unloq utilizing RLUSD on the XRP Ledger to evaluate a trade-finance settlement platform integrated with shipment authentication protocols.
Visa and Nium have refrained from announcing a specific rollout timeline, anticipated transaction volumes, or identifying additional financial institutions that might participate in the pilot beyond the initial partnership.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
