Visa adds prefunding and stablecoin payment features

Visa announced the addition of stablecoin deposit and payment capabilities to its Visa Direct service through a partnership with ZeroHash, an on-chain infrastructure provider for financial institutions.

8/11/20264 min read

The practical benefits of this integration.

Integrating stablecoins into Visa Direct operates on two separate trade transaction streams, aiming to address different bottlenecks in the current cross-border payment infrastructure. Regarding funding, businesses that need to maintain capital in multiple local bank accounts to meet payment requirements in different markets can utilize pre-funding via stablecoins. This allows them to transfer liquidity between accounts more quickly and can be done outside of traditional banking hours.

This solution addresses a practical problem regarding operating costs: payroll providers or exchanges operating in multiple countries often have to maintain a certain amount of idle capital in local currency in each market to ensure payment obligations; this capital cannot be re-utilized until the local bank opens for transactions. Pre-funding with stablecoins allows this treasury management process to operate within the continuous payment mechanism of the blockchain, rather than being limited by the operating hours of the banking system.

Regarding payment, recipients can receive stablecoins directly into supported digital wallets, instead of having to convert them to local currency at the time of payment. This is particularly useful for recipients in markets where converting local currency is often costly, slow, or difficult to access, compared to holding and spending "digital dollars" through cryptocurrency-compatible wallets and payment infrastructure.

Zerohash's role in infrastructure and reputation with institutional clients.

Founded in 2017, Zerohash provides licensed technical infrastructure, enabling Visa Direct integrations to comply with regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions with varying rules regarding digital assets. The company's list of institutional clients demonstrates its established reputation: Zerohash's infrastructure supported Morgan Stanley's deployment of spot trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on the E*Trade platform for 8.6 million households (expected by July 2026); served card issuer Marqeta; and supported payment service provider Worldpay across its entire payment system.

Zerohash applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in March 2026, aiming to expand its custody and clearing business to the same level of federal bank certification that Circle achieved in July. This trust bank charter application aligns with Zerohash's strategy of building a licensed infrastructure that allows financial institution partners to utilize it without having to deal with complex legal issues themselves. If approved by the OCC, Zerohash would have federal legal standing equivalent to a national bank's trust division in digital asset custody and clearing operations.

Edward Woodford, founder and CEO of Zerohash, emphasized the importance of the partnership with Visa Direct at the network level: opening up stablecoin use cases right at the core network level will accelerate global adoption, giving businesses a faster way to transfer money across borders, and providing recipients with more options to receive payments.

Following up on the pilot program with BVNK in January.

The partnership with ZeroHash marks the second integration of pre-funding and stablecoin payments solutions that Visa is deploying to its Visa Direct service in 2026. Prior to this, in January, Visa conducted a pilot program with BVNK – a payment infrastructure provider – to test similar features on a smaller initial scale. The transition from the pilot phase with BVNK to the announcement of a wider rollout with ZeroHash in August reflects a standard product development process for large enterprises: validation through a pilot with a partner precedes larger-scale deployment with infrastructure providers that have the scale and legal standing to support commercial product launch.

Visa is also one of the companies supporting Open Standard's OUSD stablecoin alliance. This move runs parallel to existing stablecoin infrastructure partnerships between Visa and Circle (through the integration of USDC payments announced in June) as well as Visa's participation in discussions within the stablecoin alliance, which includes major players such as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase. Visa's diverse stablecoin partnerships – including OUSD, USDC, BVNK, and now ZeroHash – demonstrate a strategy of integrating stablecoin capabilities into its entire product ecosystem, rather than sticking with a single stablecoin issuer or specific infrastructure partner.

Assessment and Conclusion

Integrating stablecoins into Visa Direct accelerates the convergence between traditional payment distribution networks and blockchain-based clearing infrastructure. This convergence is also evident in initiatives from banks and asset management firms, such as Swift's encrypted deposit ledger, BlackRock's European encrypted money market funds (ICS), and JPMorgan's QQQ tokenization via DTCC. While these initiatives bring blockchain payment mechanisms into institutional financial infrastructure, Visa Direct brings stablecoin payments to retail and commercial payment distribution systems at a scale not yet reached by institutional blockchain infrastructure.

For businesses managing multi-currency treasury operations in international markets, this integration addresses a crucial commercial question: is pre-funding with stablecoins more economically efficient than pre-funding in local currency? This assessment needs to consider factors such as stablecoin conversion costs, custody requirements, and the legal framework governing stablecoin use in each relevant jurisdiction. This integration does not completely eliminate operational complexities; companies will still need to manage stablecoin conversion, custody, regulatory compliance, and digital asset rules in each specific market. The actual commercial value will depend on the specific stablecoins Visa supports, the markets where the payment service is deployed, and the ease with which recipients can convert tokens into local currency for use—details Visa has not yet disclosed for the mass rollout phase.

Disclaimer: The content in this article is for informational, research, data analysis, and reference purposes only regarding the cryptocurrency market. All opinions, assessments, forecasts, or opinions reflect the author's perspective at the time of publication and do not constitute investment advice, solicitations for buying or selling, trading recommendations, advertising, marketing, or promotion of any financial products, services, or cryptocurrencies. Mentions of projects, tokens, protocols, exchanges, wallets, or cryptocurrency service providers (CASPs) are for research, analysis, or informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements, recommendations, or guarantees in any way. HCCVenture does not broker, advertise, market, promote, or connect users in Vietnam with any cryptocurrency services from CASPs. HCCVenture does not accept asset custody, investment mandates, manage assets, or execute transactions on behalf of clients. All investment decisions are made entirely through the reader's own research (DYOR), evaluation, and responsibility; HCCVenture is not liable for any losses or damages arising from the use of or reliance on the information presented in this article.

Compiled and analyzed by HCCVenture

Join our information channels: https://link3.to/holdcoincventure

Explore HCCVenture group

Connect with us

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. We are not responsible for any risks or losses arising from investment decisions based on the content here.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS • CUSTOMER PROTECTION POLICY

ANALYTICAL AND NEWS CONTENT IS COMPILED AND PROVIDED BY EXPERTS IN THE FIELD OF DIGITAL FINANCE AND BLOCKCHAIN BELONGING TO HCCVENTURE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING OWNERSHIP OF THE CONTENT.

RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING ALL CONTENT AND ANALYSIS: HCCVENTURE FOUNDER - TRUONG MINH HUY

Read warnings about scams and phishing emails — REPORT A PROBLEM WITH OUR SITE.