Solana has seen a sharp uptick in activity this week, following news that payments giant Visa is expanding its USDC stablecoin settlement program to include the Solana blockchain. The move marks a major milestone for Solana, which is positioning itself as a high-speed, low-cost alternative for global digital payments.
Visa’s announcement comes as part of its broader crypto strategy to modernize cross-border payments. By leveraging Circle’s USDC on Solana, Visa has begun settling select merchant payments directly via the blockchain, significantly reducing settlement times and fees when compared to traditional banking rails. This brings Solana into the spotlight alongside Ethereum, which Visa began integrating USDC with in 2021.
“This is a big validation for Solana and shows that mainstream financial players are looking beyond Ethereum for scalable solutions,” said a DeFi strategist at a leading crypto hedge fund.
Solana’s native token, SOL, responded positively to the news, climbing over 6% in 24 hours and outperforming both Bitcoin and Ethereum during the same period. Trading volumes also surged as optimism grew around increased institutional use cases.
The integration could be a game changer for decentralized finance, which has often faced criticism for slow transaction times and high gas fees on Ethereum. Solana’s high throughput and low transaction costs offer a compelling infrastructure for stablecoin-based payments, making it attractive for traditional financial institutions entering the crypto economy.
As stablecoins continue to serve as a foundational layer in Web3 and DeFi ecosystems, Visa’s pivot to Solana may spark increased interest from other global firms seeking fast, reliable blockchain settlement.
This development underscores the evolving narrative of crypto adoption: while Bitcoin remains the dominant store of value, platforms like Ethereum and Solana are racing to define the next phase of utility-driven blockchain innovation.
