Key Highlights
- Visa has entered Singapore’s BLOOM program, spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), to explore stablecoin-based settlement solutions.
- Cross-border payment provider Nium serves as Visa’s inaugural partner within the BLOOM framework.
- The trial aims to demonstrate continuous settlement capabilitiesācovering all seven days including holidaysāleveraging regulated stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar and euro.
- Visa currently operates stablecoin settlement infrastructure spanning nine blockchain platforms with approximately $7 billion in annualized transaction volume.
- Neither company has revealed specific timelines or projected transaction volumes for the pilot program.
Visa has become a participant in Singapore’s BLOOM initiative, an experimental framework orchestrated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), partnering with global payments platform Nium to trial stablecoin settlement mechanisms. The payment giant disclosed $11.63 billion in net revenue for its fiscal third quarter ending in July, with both payment volume and transaction processing experiencing 10% annual growth.
The experimental program will evaluate whether digitally-backed currencies pegged to major fiat currencies can facilitate payment settlement around the clock, eliminating the constraints imposed by traditional banking schedules. Conventional settlement processes remain dependent on business days, creating operational gaps when financial institutions cannot finalize transaction components.
Nium represents Visa’s inaugural collaboration partner within the BLOOM ecosystem. Together, the organizations will investigate how digital currency settlement can minimize processing delays and provide financial institutions with accelerated fund accessibility.
The trial concentrates on the backend settlement infrastructure rather than consumer-facing transaction initiation. According to Visa, stablecoins could introduce enhanced programmability to payment workflows and enable institutions to execute settlements beyond conventional banking hours.
Visa’s Growing Blockchain Settlement Network
Visa currently maintains stablecoin settlement capabilities across nine distinct blockchain platforms, encompassing Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc and Tempo. The corporation documented an annualized stablecoin settlement volume approaching $7 billion as of April, representing a 50% increase from the preceding quarter.
By June, Visa indicated that issuing banks participating in its blockchain-based programs had gained the ability to settle transactions continuously throughout the week. The company has simultaneously pursued efforts to extend this capability to acquiring institutions, which manage merchant funds following card transaction clearance.
During Visa’s July earnings presentation, CEO Ryan McInerney characterized the organization’s stablecoin strategy as “multi-coin, multi-chain,” emphasizing that Visa has no intention of endorsing a single digital currency. The BLOOM pilot aligns with this philosophy, as no specific token has been designated for the trial.
Adeline Kim, Visa’s group country manager for Regional Southeast Asia, emphasized that payment evolution hinges on interoperability. “The future of payments will be shaped by how different forms of money and payment networks work together for different use cases,” Kim stated.
Nium’s Participation and BLOOM’s Wider Ecosystem
This development follows Nium’s April implementation of USDC disbursements through Coinbase, which introduced stablecoin-powered international payments across its platform serving over 190 nations. The framework enables enterprises to fund disbursements using USDC and complete settlements in either digital currencies or local denominations, eliminating the need for pre-positioned capital in individual markets.
Amaresh Mohan, Nium’s chief risk and compliance officer, noted that the BLOOM collaboration is establishing infrastructure that bridges conventional payment systems with stablecoin networks.
BLOOM was unveiled by MAS in 2025 and encompasses participants including Circle, DBS, OCBC, Partior, Stripe and UOB. The initiative extends Project Orchid, MAS’s previous exploration of programmable currency systems.
A distinct BLOOM experiment revealed in March featured Ripple and supply-chain finance provider Unloq utilizing RLUSD on the XRP Ledger to examine a trade-finance settlement mechanism linked to shipment confirmation.
Visa and Nium have refrained from announcing a commercial launch date, anticipated transaction volumes, or identifying additional financial institutions that may participate in the pilot beyond the two primary organizations.
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