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Rain Expands Stablecoin Visa Cards to Solana, Tron and Stellar as Digital Payment Gains Momentum

Rain, a crypto card platform that lets users spend stablecoins anywhere Visa (V) is accepted, said it has added support for Solana SOL, Tron TRX and Stellar XLM networks.

The update makes it easier for companies building on those chains to launch their own branded cards, backed by either custodial or non-custodial wallets, that work across borders and payment use cases. Users can then pay with stablecoins in real-world scenarios like buying groceries, sending business payouts or receiving funds overseas.

The move underscores the growing trend of using blockchain rails for everyday payments, primarily in the form of stablecoins, a special subset of digital tokens tied to fiat currencies. Stablecoin payment volume taken in February of this year amounted to an annualized $72.3 billion, a fresh report from Artemis showed.

Rain raised $24.5 million in a Series A round in March and says demand for card programs tied to stablecoins is accelerating, especially among platforms looking to bridge digital assets and everyday spending.

The startup claims it's the only Visa Principal Member offering multi-chain card issuance out of the box, meaning developers can tap into one API to roll out global payments using stablecoins. The firm already supports Arbitrum, Optimism and Polygon, but the new additions bring in networks known for speed (Solana), remittances (Stellar) and high stablecoin volume (Tron).

Applications including KAST and Offramp are already putting the platform to use, the company said. KAST, built on Solana, issues cards that connect directly to users’ wallets, enabling real-time spending. Offramp, based on Tron, is rolling out cards in Latin America to expand access to dollar-based payments.

Read more: Tether, Tron Dominate Fast-Growing Stablecoin Payments Arena, Survey Shows

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Bitcoin and Web3 Wallet Firm Ledger Brings ‘Crypto Life’ Visa Card to U.S. Users

Cryptocurrency hardware wallet firm Ledger has launched its Crypto Life (CL) Visa card in the U.S., offering users 1% cashback in bitcoin (BTC) or USDC on purchases and the ability to directly deposit paychecks into the on-chain card account via bank transfer.

Ledger's CL Visa card is facilitated by fiat-to-on-chain card enabler Baanx, which also provides self-custody crypto cards for the likes of MetaMask, Tools for Humanity and most recently wallet firm Exodus.

Big card networks Mastercard and Visa are aligning themselves with the self-custodial crypto world and the rapid growth in areas like stablecoin payments. Data on CL card usage shows household purchases dominated crypto card usage at 63% of total transactions, with entertainment and fashion categories showing the strongest growth.

Jean-Francois Rochet, EVP of Consumer Services at Ledger, said the collaboration brings the CL card to millions of users in the U.S. with attractive cashback features for bitcoin holders. “Living the crypto life means having ownership, access and real world utility over your digital assets,” he said in a statement.

“The CL Card, designed for Ledger, is a step toward mainstream, non-custodial crypto payments—right in your pocket”, said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer of Baanx.

The CL Card will be available in the U.S. (excluding New York and Vermont) on June 30, 2025.

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Visa Doubles Down on Stablecoins With Investment in Blockchain Payments Firm BVNK

Global payments service provider Visa's (V) venture capital arm made a strategic investment in BVNK, a startup building stablecoin-based payment infrastructure, in a move that reflects legacy financial financial firms' push into blockchain-powered money movement.

“Visa’s deep expertise in building global payment networks, combined with our stablecoin infrastructure, creates powerful possibilities for redefining how businesses operate in today's digital economy,” BVNK co-founder and CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

A BVNK spokesperson confirmed in an email that the deal has closed but declined to reveal the size of the investment.

BVNK builds software that allows businesses to send and receive stablecoins — crypto tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar — across global markets. The London-based company said it’s already processing $12 billion in annualized stablecoin volume, and has recently expanded into the U.S. with offices in New York and San Francisco. It has applied for licenses in all U.S. states, securing approval in several.

The backdrop to this deal is a broader shift in finance. Blockchain rails and stablecoins have become increasingly central to payments, offering faster, cheaper alternative to traditional channels for uses like remittances, payroll and commerce. Global firms are racing to jump on the trend: Payments giant Stripe is testing a stablecoin tool following its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge; PayPal introduced its own stablecoin; and Visa has developed a platform to help banks issue stablecoins and tokenized assets.

“Stablecoins are fast becoming a part of global payment flows, and Visa invests in new technologies and builders like BVNK, staying at the forefront of what’s next in commerce to better serve our clients and partners,” said Rubail Birwadker, head of growth products and partnerships at Visa.

The investment follows BVNK's $50 million fundraising round last year with backers including Haun Ventures and Tiger Global.

Read more: Stablecoins Could Bring 'ChatGPT' Moment to Blockchain Adoption, Hit $3.7T by 2030: Citi

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Visa Is Joining the Paxos, Robinhood Stablecoin Consortium: Sources

Visa is joining the Global Dollar Network (USDG), a stablecoin consortium convened by U.S. regulated digital asset firm Paxos, alongside cryptocurrency and fintech heavyweights like Robinhood, Kraken and Galaxy Digital, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Visa is the first traditional finance incumbent known to be joining USDG, whose initial cohort of members also includes Anchorage Digital, Bullish (the owner of CoinDesk) and Nuvei.

The stablecoin business, whose lucrative potential is opening up to more firms amid regulatory change, has been dominated by the first and second largest issuers of USD-pegged tokens, Tether’s USDT and its smaller sibling Circle with USDC.

USDG is designed to share the yield with participant firms that can create connectivity and liquidity, unlike Tether, for example, which retains the interest gained from its stablecoin reserves.

The large card networks have been busy partnering in the crypto space. Visa was recently reported to be helping Sam Altman’s World Network, and Mastercard is working with the non-custodial wallet MetaMask.

Visa did not respond to requests for comment. A representative of Paxos said the firm can not comment on prospective partners.

Read more: Stablecoins Are a ‘WhatsApp Moment’ for Money Transfers, a16z Says

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Sam Altman’s World Network in Talks With Visa for Stablecoin Payments Wallet: Source

World Network, the blockchain-based ecosystem built to extend the functionality of biometric identification system Worldcoin, is in talks with card giant Visa to link on-chain card features to a self-custody crypto wallet, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The aim is to bring Visa card functionality to World Network wallets, delivering a range of fintech and FX applications, fiat on and off-ramps, as well as allowing stablecoin-based payments to thousands of merchants around the world that are part of the Visa network.

Tools for Humanity, the company cofounded by Open AI CEO Sam Altman that oversees Worldcoin and World Network, sent out a request for product form to card issuers, which was seen by CoinDesk.

World Network has been in talks with crypto card facilitators such as Rain, a company backed by Coinbase and Circle that provides on-chain Visa cards for projects like Optimism and Avalanche.

“The plan is to build up a whole connected wallet strategy so that you can trade in all kinds of things, from FX to crypto, load to wallet, send to wallet, spend from card,” according to a source familiar with the plans. “Basically to turn World Wallet into a mini bank account for anyone who wants it.”

Given Altman’s resources and general clout, “other wallet providers should be worried,” the source added.

Earlier this month, World Network announced a World Chat application and the ability to send money in the form of crypto-based transactions between users on the network.

Worldcoin, the iris scanning orb that collects biometric data for the network, has attracted more than its fair share of controversy since appearing in 2021.

Big card networks like Visa and Mastercard have been working with crypto projects and wallet firms to explore ways their large networks can usefully overlap with the world of digital assets.

Tools for Humanity declined to comment. Rain also declined to comment. Visa did not provide a comment by publication time.

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Avalanche Visa Card Goes Live Aiming to Further the Mass Adoption of Crypto

The Avalanche Foundation, the non-profit that helps steward the development of the Avalanche blockchain, said its much-anticipated Avalanche Card, a Visa credit card that allows users to purchase items with their cryptocurrency, is live and ready to be used.

The card was developed in collaboration with Rain, a blockchain-based card issuing platform. It enables users to spend their Avalanche tokens (AVAX), wrapped AVAX, and stablecoins USDT and USDC at any store that takes Visa, the foundation said in an email. It’s good for in-person or online transactions.

While other teams have also released credit cards tied to a user’s crypto holdings, the news signals the further integration between traditional financial technologies and cryptocurrency.

The Avalanche Foundation said in October that it planned to introduce the card, focusing on signing up users from Latin America and the Caribbean. In Tuesday’s statement, the team said sign-ups had accelerated in that region as well as Southeast Asia and Africa.

According to the card’s website, the credit card will be linked to users’ “new self-custody wallet and unique address per asset.”

“In a move to double down on mainstream adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi), Avalanche remains committed to powering accessible inroads to blockchain for every type of user,” the team said.

Read more: Avalanche Blockchain’s Largest-Ever Upgrade, ‘Avalanche9000,’ Is Live

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Hong Kong Confirms Bitcoin, Ether Can Be Used to Prove Wealth for Investment Visa

A spokesperson for Invest Hong Kong, the territory’s government agency that facilitates foreign investments, has confirmed that crypto including ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC) can be used as proof of assets when applying for its New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa.

The visa requires applicants to must prove ownership of net assets worth at least HK$30 million ($3.8 million) over a specified period. There are no specific asset type requirements, the spokesperson said in an email, but a chartered public accountant must sign off on a valuation report.

One accountant in Hong Kong has shared success stories on social media of bitcoin and ether being used as a proof of asset for the program.

Once the visa is approved, the applicant must invest another HK$30 million in what it calls “permissable assets”. A spokesperson for InvestHK confirmed to CoinDesk that cryptocurrency is not considered a permissible asset for this portion of the visa requirements.

Hong Kong currently has 9 licensed crypto exchanges, known locally as virtual asset trading platforms.

A government spokesperson said in January that the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has over 750 applicants.

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Hydra Outclasses Visa: Cardano Processes 2 Billion Transactions – Impact On ADA Price

Cardano, once again, has been at the forefront of innovations in the blockchain space through this latest feat. Hydra, a layer-2 scaling solution, has successfully performed 2 billion transactions in a mere four hours, surpassing Visa’s daily volume. This marks a historic day for Cardano, marking not only its technical prowess but also a strong contender in DeFi.

Cardano: Outperforming Visa And Solana

Cardano now has an advantage over big competitors thanks to Hydra’s success. Visa, recognized for its efficiency, handles approximately 0.72 billion transactions per day—less than half of what Hydra accomplished in a fraction of the time.

Meanwhile, Cardano’s network has been processing over 9,900 transactions per second, surpassing Solana in transaction speed and confirming its image as a highly scalable blockchain technology.

Investors’ interest has also risen. ADA, Cardano’s native coin, just recaptured the $1 price despite the issue of 36.84 million tokens.

Another projected unlock of $21.3 million worth of ADA represents only 0.05% of the circulating supply, implying that the influence on market dynamics may be modest. Nonetheless, Cardano’s ecosystem remains resilient, because of an emphasis on efficiency and innovation.

Hoskinson’s Pride And Community Optimism

Input Output’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, is elated on the latest development. In a social media post commemorating Hydra’s milestone, he wrote, “Hydra hit a million. Guess we were right.” His satisfaction in Cardano’s accomplishments reflects the community’s confidence.

Many people believe that Hydra’s capacity to execute enormous transaction volumes while lowering fees puts Cardano at the forefront of blockchain scalability.

This optimism also applies to ADA’s potential price changes. A prominent community member recently stated that the blockchain’s developing DeFi ecosystem and strong emphasis on liquid staking could result in significant growth over the next market cycle.

As Cardano continues to attract retail and institutional investors, expectations for ADA’s long-term value remain high.

Shaping The Future Of DeFi

Hydra’s achievement is more than simply a gain for Cardano; it demonstrates the expanding possibilities of blockchain technology. By outperforming traditional payment systems and other blockchains, Cardano has raised the bar for what is feasible in the DeFi market.

As the blockchain industry continues to expand at a rapid pace, Cardano is quickly becoming more than simply a competitor. Recent results for Hydra point to even greater things to come for the platform.

ADA’s price, at $1.23, shows a minor decline over the past 24 hours, but the 24.2% increase in the past week emphasizes mounting investor confidence. Cardano’s position on the blockchain is strengthened by Hydra’s capacity to handle billions of transactions in such a short period of time, hence maybe paving the path for more price rise.

Driven by both retail and institutional interest, ADA’s value could experience constant increase as Cardano keeps proving its scalability and creativity.

Featured image from Reddit, chart from TradingView