Why Are Visa and Mastercard Suddenly Diving into Web3? The Payment Wars Have Already Begun
You may have noticed: In recent months, old-guard payment giants like Visa and Mastercard have suddenly gone all-in on blockchain.Chainlink partnerships, stablecoin cross-border settlements, tokenized asset platforms…
We used to think they kept blockchain at arm’s length — yet now, they’ve become some of the most active players on the Web3 battlefield.
Many people are asking:“What are they after?” “Their traditional payment systems were printing cash — why jump into this messy crypto space?”
The truth is, it’s not because they want to play with “shiny new tech.” It’s because:If they don’t transform, they risk being left behind.
Yes — left behind.
Don’t be fooled by the billions in revenue Visa and Mastercard are still earning. Their sense of crisis is arguably deeper than that of many Web3 startups.
Because they’re watching, in real time, how stablecoins + blockchain payments could dismantle the core systems they’ve profited from for decades.Today, let’s break it down:
How do these giants actually make money?
Why does the rise of stablecoins hit them square in the face?
What big bets are Visa and Mastercard making in Web3?
And what does this mean for everyday users, developers, and crypto natives?
How Have the Traditional Payment Giants Been “Earning While Sleeping”?
When you swipe a card, the merchant charges you $100, but they may have to hand over $2–$3 to this invisible payment infrastructure — behind the scenes are:
The issuing bank
The acquiring bank
The clearing institutions
And Visa or Mastercard
Even though Visa and Mastercard don’t issue cards or hold funds, they are the gatekeepers:
Should this transaction be approved?
Who settles?
When does it clear?
Just by sitting in this “middle layer,” Visa and Mastercard rake in billions every year.But the model relies on multi-layered intermediation:
It’s slow
It’s expensive
Have you ever experienced this?
Refunds taking 3–5 business days
Cross-border transfers losing up to 10% in fees
Merchants pushing you to use cash because “credit cards are too expensive”
All these hidden costs feed that invisible card network.
Now, everything is starting to slip out of their hands.
Stablecoins: Seemingly Harmless, Actually a “Payment Black Hole”
How powerful are stablecoins? Here are some numbers:
In the past 12 months, monthly stablecoin transaction volume surpassed Visa for the first time
USDC/USDT payments settle instantly
Fees are just a few cents — basically zero
No intermediaries, no chargebacks, no settlement delays
What does this mean?You don’t need Visa. You don’t need Mastercard.
Merchants: Get paid faster, at lower cost
Consumers: Instant settlement, no FX loss
Developers: Can build payment apps without negotiating partnerships
If this goes mainstream, card networks could become irrelevant.
Think about what happened to the music industry: From CDs to MP3s to Spotify — industries disrupted by technology never get a warning shot.Visa and Mastercard know this. That’s why their current scramble isn’t optional — it’s survival.
What Are Visa and Mastercard Actually Doing in Web3?
Let’s look at how deep they’ve already gone:
Mastercard: Aggressive Moves
Partnered with Chainlink to connect 3.5 billion cards to blockchain
Launched FIUSD stablecoin, targeting 150 million merchants
Built MTN (Multi-Token Network) for tokenized assets, loyalty points, and on-chain settlement
Invested $300 million in cross-border platform Corpay to grab the global blockchain settlement market
Teamed up with Fiserv to develop blockchain-enabled payment terminals so merchants can accept crypto directly
Their bet is clear:
Merchants + Users + Fiat = Stablecoin bridge Whoever builds the smoothest bridge will control the future payment routing.
Visa: More Subtle, But Highly Pragmatic
Partnered with African platform Yellow Card for cross-border stablecoin payments
Co-launched cards with Ledger, letting users spend and earn USDC or BTC cashback
Released their own tokenized asset platform to let banks issue “digital dollars” on-chain
Tested blockchain-based clearing models in Africa and Southeast Asia
Visa’s bet is:
“We don’t have to be a Web3 company — but we must be the underlying interface in Web3.”
They understand that future payments may no longer be about “swiping cards.” It could be smart contracts automatically triggering settlement.So instead of fighting on the front line, they’re focused on owning the back-end standards.
What Are They Really Afraid Of? Their True Competitor Isn’t Each Other — It’s “The Wallet”
Look carefully — wallets are getting extremely powerful:
A single crypto wallet can store tokens, receive payments, tip, manage NFTs, borrow, trade
DeFi fills the transparency gap that card networks lack
Communities use wallets to connect gaming, content, governance, tipping
Visa and Mastercard can see it: Web3 wallets are evolving into super apps, and their old role as the “payment gateway” is being eroded.The scariest part? These wallets don’t need their networks at all.
If we get used to on-chain spending + on-chain identity + on-chain rewards:
Do you still need to swipe a card?
Do you care whether cashback settles in 7 days or 7 seconds?
Visa and Mastercard know the answer.So here’s what they’re doing:
Building infrastructure: Stablecoin settlement, blockchain payment protocols
Owning the standards layer: Compliance plugins, risk controls, KYC modules
Growing developer ecosystems: Training people to use their APIs to bridge Web3 payments
This way, even if the wallet belongs to someone else, the rails belong to them.
What Do These “Payment Wars” Mean for Us?
This isn’t just some corporate scuffle — it directly affects:
- For Everyday Users:
You could send stablecoins cross-border and have them arrive in minutes
Cashback could be instant, not “pending for 7 days”
Your wallet could connect directly to Web3 services without relying on banks - For Merchants and Platforms:
Fees could plummet — from 2.5% to below 0.1%
Settlement could accelerate, doubling cash flow efficiency
You could serve global customers directly, bypassing SWIFT and the card networks - For Developers:
No need to integrate credit card APIs
Just use USDC/USDT to achieve full-chain payments
Visa and Mastercard APIs are already adapting to Web3, so you can build with familiar tools
This is a fundamental rebuild of payment infrastructure — the global payments “operating system” is upgrading.
Conclusion: Who Will Become the Payment Base Layer of the Future?
Never underestimate the adaptability of these legacy giants. They aren’t Web3 natives, but they deeply understand what “channel power” means.
Visa and Mastercard have spent decades:Building rails, extracting fees, and defending the gateways.
Now Web3 is here. They’ve stopped defending old POS terminals and are jumping into protocol building themselves.But their biggest competition is no longer each other — it’s:
On-chain payment protocols
Wallets
Layer2 rollups
Cross-chain bridges
USDC and TON
This war has already begun!Which side are you on?
