Visa and stablecoin infrastructure provider Brale have initiated a proof-of-concept to evaluate privacy-enabled settlement using SBC, a U.S. dollar-backed token issued by Brale, on the Canton Network. The pilot, announced on Thursday, tests how blockchain-based clearing infrastructure can serve institutional payment flows while preserving the confidentiality controls that banks and payment firms require.
"Through our work with Brale, we’re exploring how SBC on the Canton Network can support institutional settlement use cases that require both programmability and privacy controls," said Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s Head of Crypto. "This collaboration helps us evaluate what it takes to bring these capabilities into production environments."
The Canton Network, a permissioned blockchain designed for synchronized, privacy-preserving transactions between regulated institutions, allows transaction data to be shared only with authorized participants—a key feature for enterprise-grade payment processing. The pilot is explicitly a test, not a commercial launch, and details such as the scale, specific assets involved, and timelines remain undisclosed.
Visa’s involvement is significant given its global payments scale. The company has been ramping up its stablecoin settlement initiatives, reaching a $7 billion annualized run rate as of April—a 50% increase from the prior quarter—across nine blockchains, including Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, Tempo, Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar. The broader stablecoin market continues to swell, with total supply nearing $300 billion, led by Tether’s USDT at roughly $188 billion and Circle’s USDC at approximately $76 billion.
The test could inform how tokenized finance infrastructure develops for institutional participants. If successful, it may encourage other payment networks to explore similar privacy-enabled designs. UK regulators have separately been examining stablecoin rules to accommodate such innovation. However, as a pilot, its immediate market impact remains limited.
