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Global Push Toward Stablecoins Accelerates as Banks, Visa, and Western Union Join the Race
- The Bank of Korea (BOK) urged banks to lead the issuance of Won-pegged stablecoins, favouring a banking-led model to mitigate risk.
- Visa is expanding its support to accept and settle with multiple stablecoins across four different blockchains, citing quadrupled stablecoin-linked card spending in Q4.
- Western Union plans to launch a Solana-based USD Stablecoin (USDPT), issued by Anchorage Digital, to cut transfer costs and speed up settlement.
Stablecoins are moving from pilots to production across banking, card networks, and remittances. Three developments this week indicate accelerating adoption and clearer regulatory alignment.
South Korea: Central Bank Urges Leaders to Push Won-Backed Stablecoins
The Bank of Korea (BOK) urged lenders to lead issuance of won-pegged stablecoins, citing banks’ capital, FX, and AML controls as risk mitigants.
In a Monday report, the BOK also called for a joint policy body across currency, FX, and financial authorities to set issuer eligibility, supply limits, and other parameters. At least eight major banks outlined plans in June to issue KRW-stablecoins, with launches targeted for late 2025 and early 2026.
Dr. Sangmin Seo, chair of the Kaia DLT Foundation, criticised the approach as illogical. The disagreement underscores a core design choice: whether stablecoins should be issued by regulated banks under existing prudential rules or by non-bank institutions under bespoke regimes. The BOK’s preference signals a push to contain settlement and liquidity risk inside the banking perimeter while preserving tokenised payment efficiency.
The move comes following Japan’s recent launch of the Yen stablecoin, JPYC, issued by a fintech firm of the same name and regulated under the country’s Payment Services Act.
Related: World’s Largest XRP Treasury Reveals $1B Purchase, Sits at 95% of Target
Visa to Support Four Stablecoins on Four Different Blockchains
Visa expanded its stablecoin posture, saying it will accept and settle with multiple stablecoins across four blockchains, spanning two fiat currencies and conversion into more than 25 traditional currencies on its network.
CEO Ryan McInerney said stablecoin-linked card spending on Visa in Q4 was four times higher than a year ago. The company framed the move as part of a push to speed cross-border settlement, following a pilot launched in September to test stablecoin rails for international transfers.
Western Union Announces USD Stablecoin on Solana
Meanwhile, Western Union is introducing a Solana-based settlement system and plans a new stablecoin, the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), for rollout in the first half of next year.
The stablecoin will be issued by Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated digital-asset bank. Western Union, which serves roughly 100 million users across its payments network, is positioning the token to cut transfer costs and improve settlement speed on public infrastructure.
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Taken together, the BOK’s banking-led model, Visa’s multi-chain settlement support, and Western Union’s Solana launch signal that stablecoins are moving into regulated finance, with focus shifting from experimentation to scale.
Related: Bitcoin Holds Key Support as Saylor’s Strategy Earns Historic B- from S&P Global
Author
José Oramas
José is a journalist and translator with a keen interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
