Payment Firms Unite on Stablecoin Platform

Payment companies Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are collaborating on a joint stablecoin platform aimed at enhancing cross-border payment capabilities.

The platform will support several regulated digital dollars, including USDC, PYUSD, USDG, USDP, RLUSD, and SoFiUSD, which can be used for settlement and other financial transactions. This move is part of a broader trend towards the adoption of stablecoins in the payments industry, with large companies seeking to leverage their potential for faster and more efficient cross-border payments.

The platform's inclusion of Ripple's RLUSD and XRPL (XRP Ledger) reflects growing demand for blockchain-based settlement infrastructure that can operate around the clock. The XRP Ledger Foundation pointed out the benefits of using XRPL, including its near-instant finality, predictable low fees, and 14-year operating history.

Mastercard's support for RLUSD is seen as a significant development in the stablecoin space, adding another regulated option for real-world payment flows. The inclusion of Polygon, a blockchain network used in payments, tokenization, and enterprise applications, will also enable issuers and acquirers to use stablecoin settlement beyond standard banking hours.