Visa Q3 revenue rises 14% as crypto push expands

Visa outlined a broad stablecoin strategy during its fiscal third-quarter earnings call on July 28, placing OpenUSD, tokenized bank deposits, blockchain settlement and AI-powered commerce within the same payments roadmap.

The U.S. payments company reported $11.63 billion in quarterly net revenue, up 14% year over year. Payments volume and processed transactions each increased 10%, while cross-border volume rose 13%. Adjusted earnings reached $6.3 billion, or $3.32 per share.

Visa stablecoin strategy covers the entire stack

Visa said it is investing across several layers of the stablecoin market, including blockchains, issuance, wallets, infrastructure, orchestration and payment applications. Its stated role is to connect financial institutions and payment companies to these systems rather than operate only as a card network.

That approach includes the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which Visa announced on July 16. The platform provides wallet infrastructure and tools for minting, holding, transferring and redeeming stablecoins through a Visa-managed environment. It is currently available for beta testing with selected clients, with no date announced for wider availability.

Visa already lets selected issuers and acquirers settle obligations using supported stablecoins. Its settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate by March, after growing 50% during one quarter. The programme now supports nine blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon, Avalanche, Stellar, Canton, Arc and Tempo.

As crypto.news previously reported, the expansion moved Visa beyond limited trials on Ethereum and Solana by giving institutional partners several network options.

OpenUSD is a starting asset, not an exclusive choice

OpenUSD, also called OUSD, will be the first stablecoin supported through the new Visa platform. Clients will be able to connect bank accounts, create managed wallets and access OpenUSD minting and redemption functions once the relevant services become available.

However, Visa said during the earnings call that its longer-term strategy would remain multi-coin and multi-chain. The company said its role was not to choose a winning stablecoin, blockchain or infrastructure provider, but to help clients connect to whichever regulated systems gain adoption.

That statement places limits on how its OpenUSD participation should be interpreted. ARK Invest researcher Lorenzo Valente argued that Visa’s involvement appeared “closer to a soft LOI than a strategic bet.” His comment is an external interpretation. Visa has not described its participation in those terms.

Visa has still committed more than nominal support. It has made OpenUSD the first asset integrated into a beta platform carrying its name. However, neither the earnings call nor its platform announcement disclosed an OpenUSD balance-sheet investment, distribution target or minimum transaction commitment.

In related coverage, crypto.news reported that Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and more than 140 businesses joined the Open Standard initiative. OpenUSD is expected to launch later in 2026, but its final issuance volume and adoption remain unknown.

Tokenized deposits give banks another route onchain

Visa also plans to connect its stablecoin platform with Pismo, the cloud-based banking infrastructure company it acquired in 2024. The integration is intended to help financial institutions create tokenized deposits while keeping customer funds on bank balance sheets.

Tokenized deposits differ from conventional stablecoins because they represent a customer’s claim against a specific regulated bank. Visa said in June that it was building technology that would let banks turn traditional deposits into programmable, continuously available digital money.

The company plans to support additional third-party tokenized-deposit infrastructure providers after the Pismo integration. It has not named those providers or announced a launch date.

As crypto.news reported in its coverage of Visa’s AI and token strategy, the company is positioning tokenized deposits as a bank-controlled alternative that can offer some of the speed and programmability associated with stablecoins.

Visa sees AI controlling the commerce front end

Visa described stablecoins as a possible replacement for parts of the financial system’s back-end settlement infrastructure. It sees AI agents changing the front end by searching, selecting and purchasing goods or services for users.

The company has introduced agent identity, token assurance and transaction-control tools intended to let software agents make payments within preset limits. It has also partnered with OpenAI on agentic-commerce systems and tested payment credentials designed for autonomous software.

Visa said it believes agentic commerce could increase its addressable market, but that remains forward-looking. Merchants, banks and consumers must still adopt the technology, while liability, authentication and consent rules are still developing.

Visa shares fell about 1% in after-hours trading following the earnings release, despite results exceeding analyst forecasts. The movement was not specifically linked to the company’s stablecoin comments.

The next confirmed milestones are OpenUSD’s planned launch, expanded Visa Stablecoin Platform testing and details of the Pismo tokenized-deposit integration. Visa has not provided firm dates for those steps.