Visa Chooses Open USD for its Stablecoin Platform

• Visa launches stablecoin platform built on Open USD
• Coinbase's Jesse Pollak hands the Base app to Cobie
• Ondo Finance partners with Japan’s SBI

Visa spent the stablecoin boom as a bridge between card networks and crypto. Now it wants to run the rails itself, and it is starting with a rival to the network its old partner Circle issues.

Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise system that crypto head Cuy Sheffield says will bring stablecoin services to more than 200 million merchants, initially through Open USD, the bank-and-fintech consortium stablecoin built as a counterweight to Circle's USDC.

Visa's hundreds of millions of merchants is one thing stablecoin issuers cannot buy, and it is exactly what USDC and its bank-backed challengers have been racing to secure. Building the platform on Open USD first, signals where Visa thinks the merchant-settlement volume is going to land.

Read more below!

PARTNER

The Defiant and Alumni Ventures are teaming up this week only to give readers early access to high-potential startup opportunities, including some of today’s most exciting Blockchain & Fintech startups co-invested alongside top VC firms like Paradigm & Pantera Capital.

You get:

• Curated deal flow of high-potential Blockchain & Fintech startups
• No cost
• No commitment to join
• Invest only if a company excites you

Don’t miss your chance!

WATCH

MoneyGram CEO on Rolling Out MGUSD to Its 60 Million Users, Globally

As Visa moves to distribute stablecoins to hundreds of millions of merchants, MoneyGram's CEO makes the case for reaching the other side of that network: the cash-in, cash-out counters where its MGUSD stablecoin goes out to 60 million users worldwide.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

Visa Launches Stablecoin Platform Built on Open USD

Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise system that its crypto head Cuy Sheffield unveiled and that Fortune reported will bring stablecoin services to more than 200 million merchants, initially through Open USD, the consortium stablecoin positioned against Circle's USDC.

Visa Launches Stablecoin Platform Built on Open USDVisa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise system supporting Open USD, crypto head Cuy Sheffield said, with Fortune citing reach to 200M+ merchants.thedefiant.io

Why this matters: Merchant reach is the moat stablecoin issuers cannot buy. Visa wiring 200M merchants to Open USD first is a heavy thumb on the scale in the fight to settle everyday payments onchain.

REGULATION

CFTC Orders Kalshi to Honor Trades a Michigan Court Told It to Cancel

The CFTC ordered KalshiEX to fulfill trades a Michigan court told it to cancel, staying a Kalshi rule change and invoking emergency authority. The regulator called the first state attempt to void executed derivatives trades unprecedented, escalating a federal-versus-state jurisdiction fight.

Why this matters: Whether a state can unwind trades on a federally regulated venue goes to the core of who governs prediction markets. The CFTC just planted a flag for federal preemption.

PEOPLE

Coinbase's Jesse Pollak Hands Base App to Cobie, Says Social Bet Was 'Definitively Wrong'

Jesse Pollak will no longer lead the Base app team, handing it to Jordan Fish, known as Cobie, after admitting Base's onchain-social bet was "definitively wrong." The Coinbase executive is refocusing the largest Ethereum L2 on trading, payments, and AI agents.

Why this matters: A rare public concession from a major L2. Base is retreating from consumer social back to the trading and payments where onchain demand actually is, and where its Coinbase parent already wins.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

Ondo Finance Partners With SBI to Tokenize Japanese Assets

Ondo Finance partnered with SBI Group to tokenize Japanese assets, routing distribution through SBI's ecosystem and settling in the group's JPYSC yen stablecoin, connecting Japan's capital markets to onchain finance.

Why this matters: Tokenization keeps finding its distribution through incumbents. Pairing Ondo's rails with SBI's reach and a yen stablecoin is how onchain assets get to Japanese investors at scale.

HACKS

Ostium Vault Exploiter Routes 10,540 ETH to Tornado Cash

The attacker behind the Ostium vault exploit routed 10,540 ETH into Tornado Cash, with security firm PeckShield now putting the drain at roughly $24 million, above the up-to-$18M first estimated. The stolen USDC was swapped into 12,080 ETH before laundering began.

Why this matters: A day-two escalation of yesterday's exploit, and the funds are already moving through the sanctioned mixer. The window to freeze or claw back stolen DeFi funds keeps shrinking to hours.

Other Stories Worth Your Time

Polygon Labs Cuts Staff Again as It Closes Coinme Deal — CEO Marc Boiron announced the firm's second staff cut of 2026 as it finalizes its Coinme acquisition and shifts from a blockchain foundation to a blockchain-enabled payments company.

Dune Study for 1inch Finds 85% of Concentrated Liquidity Idle — onchain research the DEX aggregator commissioned estimates that 85% of concentrated DeFi liquidity sat idle in the first half of 2026, forgoing about $150 million a year in fees across seven chains.

1inch Co-Founder Anton Bukov Launches Second Tier After Exit He Calls a Firing — co-founder Anton Bukov says he was fired in November and is now building an infrastructure startup called Second Tier; 1inch disputes the account, saying he contributed to a team effort and was never an employee it could fire.

Trending on The Defiant

Stripe's $53B PayPal Bid Would Combine Bridge and PYUSD Under One OwnerTRADFI

DTCC Starts Live Tokenized-Securities Trades With More Than Two Dozen FirmsTRADFI

Standard Chartered Launches USDC Minting Access With CircleTRADFI

Visa's Sheffield Pegs Adjusted x402 Volume at $19MINFRASTRUCTURE

Argentine Judge Orders ID, Freeze of 25 LIBRA-Linked Crypto WalletsREGULATION