Anchorage Digital’s Stablecoins Can Now Settle Payments on Visa’s Network

In brief

• Anchorage Digital is working with Visa to let select Anchorage-issued stablecoins settle transactions on VisaNet, starting with Western Union’s USDPT, with a framework to add more tokens later.
• CEO Nathan McCauley pitched the appeal as pairing a stablecoin’s speed with the backing of a federally regulated bank.
• The deal advances Anchorage’s goal of becoming the “settlement bank for stablecoins,” building on its recent role in the U.S.-Mexico corridor, and extends Visa’s stablecoin push.

Anchorage Digital is extending its stablecoin reach into one of the world’s largest payment networks, teaming up with Visa to let select Anchorage-issued tokens settle transactions directly on VisaNet, starting with Western Union’s USDPT.

Under the arrangement announced Thursday, Visa and eligible companies can now use USDPT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued and custodied by Anchorage Digital Bank, to settle their obligations on the Visa network.

It’s the first Anchorage-issued token to gain that status, and the companies said the deal establishes a framework to add more of its stablecoins later.

The appeal, Anchorage argues, is pairing the speed of a stablecoin with the backing of a regulated bank. Anchorage operates what it bills as America’s first federally chartered crypto bank, overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.