PARIS, France, June 30. Stablecoins are unlikely to become widely used for paying for goods and services in stores in the foreseeable future, but they may play an important role in cross-border transfers, B2B settlements, and emerging markets, Visa's Group President, Oliver Jenkyn, said, Trend's special correspondent reports from the event.
Jenkyn made the statement at a briefing held as part of the Visa Payments Forum in Paris.
According to him, blockchain technology and stablecoins are still in the early stages of development, but their potential to transform international payments remains significant.
“We are still at the very beginning of this journey. The potential is enormous, and at Visa, we are optimistic about the development of this area. Stablecoins have the potential to become an important part of the future architecture of the global payment system,” Jenkyn said.
He noted that Visa sees its role as a bridge between the crypto-asset ecosystem and the traditional financial system.
“We see ourselves as a bridge between the world of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and the world of fiat currencies. This is precisely the role Visa can play for the entire industry,” he emphasized.
According to Jenkyn, the company sees the greatest potential for stablecoins in emerging markets with unstable national currencies, in cross-border transfers and corporate payments, as well as in the development of cards linked to cryptocurrency and stablecoin wallets.
“Such cards allow users to pay anywhere Visa is accepted, even if their funds are held in cryptocurrency or stablecoins. In this case, Visa acts as a bridge between digital assets and the traditional financial system,” he noted.
However, Jenkyn believes that stablecoins will not become a mainstream payment method in retail in the near future.
“I don’t think stablecoins will become widespread at store checkout counters. They don’t solve any existing problems in consumer payments. Their main areas of application are cross-border transactions, B2B payments, and emerging markets,” he said.
He also emphasized that large-scale adoption of the technology requires further development of blockchain infrastructure, including improvements in network security, performance, and privacy, as well as enhancements to digital wallets, key management systems, and industry-specific solutions for working with stablecoins.
“We see great potential, but there is still a lot of work to be done before this technology becomes widespread,” Jenkyn concluded.
