Visa has launched a stablecoin platform aimed at helping banks, financial institutions, and fintech companies easily issue and manage stablecoins, and integrate them into their existing payment ecosystems. Core functions include minting, transferring, and managing stablecoins, as well as integrating them into payment, settlement, and money transfer systems, targeting over 200 million merchants and 15,000 financial institutions.
Impact on USDC: Positive in the short term, directly supporting USDC settlement and integration, giving it a first-mover advantage; in the medium to long term, facing intense competition, with institutional/payment business possibly diverted, and the model of earning interest solely from reserves challenged.
Impact on USDT: Relatively greater, as traditional finance prefers compliant and transparent options. USDT's share in merchant payments and institutional settlements may be eroded, but it remains strong in purely crypto scenarios.
Impact on Ethereum: Neutral to slightly positive, as mainstream adoption of stablecoins will attract more institutional funds into the ETH network, increasing demand for the settlement layer. Ethereum, as the most mature and decentralized chain, is the preferred choice for compliant institutional stablecoins.
Visa isn’t trying to get rid of USDC/USDT, but rather expand the market through 'collecting rent,' which is beneficial for the stablecoin ecosystem long-term, though the model of earning interest just from issuance faces challenges.