Visa Expands Stablecoin Strategy Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa with New Partnership
Visa is taking another major step toward integrating digital assets into global payments. The company announced a new partnership with crypto infrastructure provider Aquanow to expand its use of stablecoin settlement across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA).
According to Thursday’s announcement, Visa will work with Aquanow to settle transactions using approved stablecoins like USDC, helping reduce costs, cut operational friction, and significantly speed up settlement times. The company said demand for faster and more cost-efficient cross-border payments from banks and payment platforms has surged, making the move both timely and necessary.
Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s Head of Product and Solutions for CEMEA, said the partnership will allow financial institutions in the region to experience “faster and simpler settlements.” He noted that using stablecoins can help modernize the payment rails that currently depend on multiple intermediaries, bringing the industry closer to 24/7 settlement capabilities.
Sullivan added,
“Our partnership with Aquanow is another key step in modernizing the backend rails of payments, reducing reliance on traditional systems, and preparing institutions for the future of money movement.”
Aquanow CEO Phil Sham (left) and Visa CEMEA head of product and solutions Godfrey Sullivan (right). Source: Visa
Stablecoin Adoption Accelerates Worldwide
Stablecoins were originally designed as a simple tool for transferring value between crypto exchanges. Today, their role has rapidly expanded—they now behave much like digital dollars within the on-chain economy and are increasingly being adopted by traditional financial institutions for settlement and payments.
This week, Deutsche Börse, one of Europe’s largest market infrastructure providers, announced plans to integrate EURAU, a euro-pegged stablecoin issued by AllUnity. This expands the exchange group’s broader digital asset strategy, which already includes connections with Circle’s Euro Coin (EURC) and Société Générale-Forge’s EUR CoinVertible (EURCV).
Deutsche Börse said it will begin adding EURAU to its institutional custody service and plans to integrate the stablecoin across its entire service portfolio in the future.
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Regulatory Debate Intensifies
As stablecoin adoption accelerates, global regulators are still working on how to classify and supervise these assets—especially within the banking sector.
Erik Thedéen, Governor of Sweden’s central bank and Chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, recently indicated that regulators may need a “different approach” to the current 1,250% risk weighting applied to crypto exposures. This suggests that international standards for stablecoin and digital asset treatment may evolve.
Meanwhile, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said she expects the UK to move in parallel with the United States on stablecoin regulation. This signals growing alignment among major jurisdictions as stablecoins become increasingly embedded in payment and settlement systems worldwide.
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