Jack Paul 
Visa’s Strategic Shift to Onchain Finance Infrastructure
Visa, the global payment network that processes nearly $16 trillion annually, is making a significant move into decentralized finance—or what it’s now calling “onchain finance.” The company recently released a report titled “Stablecoins Beyond Payments: The Onchain Lending Opportunity” that outlines its vision for building the foundational infrastructure for lending in this emerging space.
I think this represents a notable shift in strategy. Rather than just experimenting with crypto, Visa appears to be positioning itself as the bridge between traditional finance and decentralized protocols. The rebranding from “DeFi” to “onchain finance” seems deliberate—perhaps trying to make the concept more palatable to institutional players who might be wary of the decentralized label.
The Institutional Playbook
Visa’s approach looks familiar to anyone who understands its traditional business model. The company doesn’t plan to issue tokens or directly fund loans. Instead, it wants to provide the underlying infrastructure—the APIs, analytics, and settlement systems that would allow programmable credit to connect with traditional financial institutions.
This makes sense from a risk perspective. Visa would avoid counterparty lending risk while still participating in the growth of onchain lending markets. The report notes that these markets have already issued more than $670 billion in stablecoin loans since 2020, with lending activity reaching new highs recently.
Existing Models and Partnerships
The report highlights several examples where stablecoin-based credit is already functioning at scale. Morpho serves as a liquidity “meta-layer” connecting institutional wallets and exchanges like Coinbase and Ledger, allowing borrowers to use tokenized bitcoin as collateral for USDC loans.
Credit Coop, which Visa directly partners with, uses smart contracts to manage merchant receivables. Then there’s Huma Finance, which supports cross-border working-capital loans while automating supplier payments and generating what the report describes as “double-digit annual yields.”
The Big Picture
What strikes me about this strategy is how it mirrors Visa’s historical playbook. Just as the company built the global infrastructure for card payments, it now wants to do the same for onchain credit. The familiar name and trusted reputation could be exactly what’s needed to bring institutional capital—trillions of dollars’ worth—into this space.
But I wonder about the timing. The crypto markets have been volatile, and regulatory uncertainty persists. Still, Visa seems confident that stablecoins have evolved beyond trading tools to become the backbone of automated credit markets that operate continuously and settle instantly.
Perhaps this is the natural evolution—moving from payments to more complex financial services while maintaining the same infrastructure provider role. It’s a technology play rather than a direct lending play, which might be the smarter approach given the current regulatory environment.