Visa, Mastercard Back New Dollar Stablecoin to Rival USDT and USDC
A coalition of financial and crypto firms is launching a US dollar stablecoin that retains reserve earnings, directly targeting the two dominant stablecoins.
A new US dollar stablecoin backed by payment giants Visa and Mastercard alongside multiple cryptocurrency companies is moving toward launch, positioning itself as a direct competitor to Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC — currently the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization.
One of the project's defining features is its reserve earnings model, which allows the consortium to keep income generated from the assets backing the stablecoin. That structure contrasts with models where reserve yields flow elsewhere, and could give the alliance a significant financial incentive to scale aggressively.
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The entry of Visa and Mastercard into a stablecoin consortium marks a notable escalation of traditional finance's push into digital assets. Both networks already process trillions of dollars in annual transactions, giving the new stablecoin potential distribution advantages that purely crypto-native issuers have historically lacked.
Tether and Circle have long dominated the stablecoin market, with USDT and USDC collectively accounting for the vast majority of stablecoin trading volume and liquidity. A well-capitalized rival supported by mainstream payment infrastructure could meaningfully pressure that duopoly, particularly as US lawmakers continue debating stablecoin regulatory frameworks that may reshape the competitive landscape.
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