Visa Tests Stablecoin Payments With Eyes on Global Gig Economy

Visa Inc. is testing the ability for businesses to send stablecoins directly to consumers’ cryptocurrency wallets for global payouts, targeting growing demand for the fiat-backed digital tokens among gig workers and digital creators in emerging markets.

The payments giant is piloting the feature as part of Visa Direct, the company’s real-time payments service that enables clients to send money to 195 countries. The pilot will use USDC, the US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group Inc.

Digital platform operators use payout services to pay creators or gig workers. TikTok, for example, pays influencers based on video views through its ...