Key Points
- Anchorage Digital is collaborating with Visa to enable some stablecoins issued by Anchorage to be settled and traded on VisaNet. This initiative starts with Western Union transfers involving USDPT, and a framework has been established to include more tokens in the future.
- CEO Nathan McCauley stated that the appeal of this scheme lies in combining the speed of stablecoins with the endorsement of a federally regulated bank.
- This collaboration has advanced the goal of Anchorage becoming a “stablecoin settlement bank” and also continues Visa’s presence in the stablecoin sector.
Anchorage Digital is expanding its stablecoin business to one of the largest payment networks in the world. The company has collaborated with Visa to enable some tokens issued by Anchorage to be directly settled and traded on VisaNet, with Western Union's USDPT being the first to support this.
According to the arrangements announced on Thursday, Visa and eligible companies can now use USDPT to fulfill their settlement obligations on the Visa network. USDPT is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, issued and provided with custody by Anchorage Digital Bank.
This is the first Anchorage to obtain this qualification for issuing tokens. The two companies stated that this collaboration also establishes a framework that could in the future include more stablecoins issued by Anchorage.
Anchorage believes that the appeal of this approach lies in combining the speed of stablecoins with the support of regulated banks. Anchorage operates what it claims to be "the first federally licensed crypto bank in the United States," which is supervised by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).
"Speed alone is not enough to get institutions onto the blockchain," said Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage. He noted that institutions desire "a regulated entity behind the funds," and now they can obtain both the speed of stablecoins and the protection provided by a federally regulated bank.
This move is the latest indication that Visa is incorporating stablecoins into its settlement infrastructure.
This payment giant has established a stablecoin settlement program that covers networks such as Base and Polygon; it has also launched a platform to help banks and fintech companies issue and transfer stablecoins; and has entered the field of on-chain lending related to its bank cards.
Visa, the vice president in charge of encryption cooperation affairs, stated that support for USDPT provides partners with "another reliable, institutional-level settlement option with Visa".
For Anchorage, this collaboration advances its broader goal of becoming a settlement bank for stablecoins on a institutional scale, not only responsible for issuing stablecoins but also providing the underlying custody and settlement infrastructure.
The bank has currently issued a series of institutional-level stablecoins, including Tether, the US-regulated USAT, Western Union's USDPT, and USDtb from Ethena. These stablecoins can be exchanged for US dollars at a 1:1 ratio. Its counterparty settlement network, Atlas, is responsible for handling over-the-counter settlements, collateral management, and cross-border transfers.
BJW_KEEP_00001 recently positioned itself as the custodian infrastructure for the USD/Mexico stablecoin gateway, custodian tokens at both ends of one of the world's largest remittance channels. Now, by powering a token on the BJW_KEEP_00002 network—while the BJW_KEEP_00003 network covers merchants and banks worldwide—it further extends its institutional business footprint into the mainstream payments sector.
The two companies stated that after the initial launch of USDPT, they may support more stablecoins issued by Anchorage in the future.
