Visa partners with Mesh to enable crypto payments at 175 million merchants

Visa has partnered with crypto payments infrastructure provider Mesh to let consumers spend cryptocurrency and stablecoin balances at more than 175 million merchant locations worldwide without first transferring funds to a bank account or loading a separate payment card.

In an Oct. 19 announcement, Mesh said the partnership would connect digital wallets and cryptocurrency platforms to Visa’s payment network through its transaction processing infrastructure, allowing users to make purchases directly from their existing balances.

The proposed service will support payments at physical stores and online merchants across more than 200 countries and territories where Visa operates. Mesh will handle the conversion and movement of funds behind each transaction, while merchants receive payments through their existing checkout systems.

Visa processed $14.2 trillion in payment volume during fiscal 2025, according to figures cited in the announcement. However, the companies have not disclosed when the new service will become available or which cryptocurrency wallets will support it at launch.

Visa and Mesh will connect crypto wallets to existing payment terminals

Under the agreement, Mesh will allow participating wallet providers and cryptocurrency platforms to offer payments directly from digital asset balances without requiring customers to withdraw their holdings before making a purchase.

The payment process will rely on a Visa credential created in the background. Customers will be able to use standard contactless payment terminals or complete purchases online through supported applications.

Mesh will manage the funding and conversion process when a transaction takes place, drawing from supported cryptocurrency, stablecoin or fiat balances.

Merchants will continue receiving payments through Visa’s existing infrastructure, without installing new hardware or changing how they accept transactions.

The arrangement does not mean merchants will receive cryptocurrency directly. Mesh will handle the conversion required to complete payments through the conventional payment network.

According to the company, wallet providers can activate the service through a single Mesh integration without developing and operating their own card programs.

Mesh will act as the program manager and handle customer onboarding and know your customer checks associated with the service.

The company said its network already serves more than 200 enterprises and connects hundreds of wallets, exchanges and financial platforms.

Its existing enterprise relationships include Kalshi, Tools for Humanity, Félix Pago, Majority and KAST, although the announcement did not confirm which partners would participate in the initial Visa rollout.

“Crypto never had a spending problem, it has a last-mile problem,” Mesh co-founder and CEO Bam Azizi said in the announcement.

Azizi said the company’s infrastructure would manage funding and conversion at the time of payment, removing the need for customers to move money between accounts before making purchases.

Visa’s global head of growth, Rubail Birwadker, said the collaboration would give consumers more ways to use digital asset balances through established payment services.

Visa expands stablecoin payments beyond dedicated card programs

The partnership follows several initiatives by Visa to connect cryptocurrency holdings and stablecoin transactions with its existing payments infrastructure.

In September, Visa disclosed that more than 160 stablecoin card programs were operating globally during its fiscal second quarter of 2026.

Payment volume across those programs had climbed nearly 200% from the previous year, while the company’s stablecoin settlement business surpassed an annualized rate of $20 billion.

An October update showed that stablecoin card payments continued to record nearly 200% annual growth across Visa’s network.

Business and commercial programs accounted for approximately 17% of the company’s stablecoin-linked card payment volume during fiscal 2026.

The Mesh arrangement uses a different customer-facing model from conventional cryptocurrency card programs because participating platforms can provide payment access without requiring customers to obtain a separate card associated with each wallet.

Earlier payment integrations have generally required users to convert cryptocurrency into fiat before spending it or rely on dedicated cards issued through specific providers.

In January, Visa partnered with Mercuryo to allow eligible users to convert cryptocurrency into fiat and transfer the proceeds to Visa debit and credit cards through Visa Direct.

The service was designed to deliver funds to eligible cards within minutes, depending on the supported market and payment conditions.

Visa entered another digital asset agreement in October when it partnered with ADI Foundation to explore blockchain infrastructure and digital payment systems.

That agreement remained exploratory, with neither company announcing a specific blockchain, stablecoin or commercial launch date.

Mesh builds on existing exchange and stablecoin integrations

Mesh has spent much of 2026 adding cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and payment platforms to its network.

In September, crypto.news reported that Bybit Pay integrated Mesh to connect its payment service with more than 300 wallets, exchanges and financial platforms.

The integration allowed Bybit users to access exchange balances when paying or funding supported accounts without withdrawing their assets beforehand.

Bybit said the arrangement could serve its approximately 80 million users, while businesses connected to Mesh could support Bybit Pay through their existing integration.

The exchange arrangement gave Mesh another payment source within its network before the Visa partnership introduced access to traditional merchant acceptance infrastructure.

Mesh raised $75 million in a Series C funding round in January 2026, bringing the company’s valuation to $1 billion.

The company has since continued expanding its payment infrastructure through partnerships involving cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain networks and stablecoin providers.

In May, Mesh joined Paxos’s Global Dollar Network, an initiative designed to support adoption of the USDG stablecoin through participating financial and payment platforms.

The company subsequently launched its Mesh Alliance Program in June, bringing together businesses working on cryptocurrency payment infrastructure.

According to Mesh, the alliance now includes more than 50 partners seeking to simplify integrations between enterprise payment providers and digital asset networks.

Mesh introduced another product focused on automated payments, called Mesh Wallet, which is designed to allow artificial intelligence agents to complete transactions using stablecoins.

Crypto ownership climbs as payment providers target everyday spending

Mesh cited Crypto.com’s H1 2026 market sizing research, which estimated that the number of cryptocurrency owners worldwide reached 774 million by June.

Despite the size of the estimated ownership base, spending through cryptocurrency-linked payment products remains relatively small compared with established card networks.

According to American Banker figures cited in the Mesh announcement, cryptocurrency card payment volume was running at approximately $1.5 billion per month toward the end of 2025.

Separate Paymentscan data cited by RedotPay showed that cumulative stablecoin card spending had passed $10.9 billion by August 2026.

The dataset recorded more than $1 billion in stablecoin card spending during July, its highest monthly figure at the time.

The figures cover different measurement periods and payment categories, so they do not provide a direct comparison of the same market activity.

Mesh said the new Visa integration would allow users holding funds across multiple participating wallets to spend from those balances through the same merchant acceptance network.

Each supported platform would connect through Mesh, which would manage the underlying payment credentials, onboarding and transaction conversion.

The company has not yet identified the cryptocurrencies or stablecoins that will be eligible for spending through the new service.

Details about participating platforms, supported devices and initial market availability remain pending.

Mesh said those arrangements would be announced as the rollout plans are finalized.