Visa Seeks Licensed Stablecoin Partners in 4 Countries: Mastercard Acquires BVNK, Stripe Buys Bridge

Following Mastercard’s acquisition of BVNK, Visa is seeking new licensed stablecoin settlement and OTC partners in the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore.

According to documents seen by CoinDesk, Visa has launched a request for proposal (RFP) to fill the role previously held by BVNK, which was acquired by Mastercard this year. The company expects potential partners to support various stablecoins and enable swaps between them.

The RFP also calls for the provision of settlement services for the Open USD project. Led by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard, the project aims to support multiple stablecoins. Visa requires its prospective partners to hold crypto exchange licenses in the four major markets.

Visa and Mastercard Compete in Stablecoin Infrastructure

The documents specify that Visa is specifically looking for a settlement partner and an OTC partner. OTC refers to the over-the-counter market, where transactions are conducted directly between parties rather than through an exchange order book. However, no agreement has been signed between the parties yet, and Visa has not commented on the matter.

Last month, Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, a product that enables banks, fintech companies, and payment institutions to access, custody, issue, and transfer stablecoins. The first token supported by the platform is OUSD, short for Open USD.

Competition in the stablecoin space gained momentum with Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of infrastructure firm Bridge in late 2024. According to CoinGecko data, the approximately $300 billion stablecoin market is at the center of the payment infrastructure race between Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe.