TL;DR:
- Visa’s Money Travels 2026 report shows that willingness in the United States to use stablecoins for cross-border transfers rises from 36% to 56% under a hypothetical scenario of bank-like guarantees.
- 56% of surveyed Americans stated they had never heard of stablecoins prior to the poll, while 45% showed interest if offered by their primary financial provider.
- In Latin America, acceptance for international payments under bank-protected conditions surged from 34% to 74%, according to global survey data.
Visa has just released a report revealing that 56% of American consumers are open to transacting with stablecoins with bank-like protections for international transfers, compared to the 36% recorded without safeguards.
The report, titled Money Travels 2026, evaluated consumer perception regarding theoretical models integrating deposit insurance and fraud coverage. Conducted between February 24 and March 2, the technical research was carried out by Morning Consult, featuring a global sample of 45,445 individuals across 20 markets, including 2,192 adult residents in the United States.
Currently, stablecoins do not have the backing of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance. Visa explicitly clarified in its publication that the assessed parameters reflect an analytical framework and do not anticipate an imminent rollout of such guarantees across the crypto sector.
A general lack of knowledge regarding the operational mechanics of these tokens continues to dictate adoption levels. Study findings show that 56% of U.S. participants had never previously encountered the concept of a stablecoin. Among those who expressed prior familiarity, a considerable portion mistakenly associated these assets with the characteristic volatility of Bitcoin.
The Visa report emphasizes that the profile of the issuing or distributing entity directly impacts consumer confidence. Interest in transferring funds reached 45% when the option was presented by the client’s regular financial institution. Furthermore, 61% of Americans surveyed stated they would trust a traditional banking institution to manage digital currencies, while 60% placed that same trust in global payment networks.
The impact of guarantees across international markets
The shift in usage intent was not confined to the North American market. In Latin America, preference for utilizing these instruments for outbound transfers climbed from 34% to 74% once institutional banking backing was introduced as a hypothetical condition.
At the enterprise level, infrastructure firms continue deploying solutions to bridge traditional fiat rails with decentralized settlement. In recent weeks, Visa published functional documentation for its technical platform, Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP), centered on institutional conversion, issuance, and balance custody for businesses across networks like Ethereum and Solana.
The industry remains focused on the progress of legislative framework debates for stablecoins in the U.S. Congress, where financial committees have scheduled oversight hearings during the final quarter of the year.
