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- Visa Expands Stablecoin Cards to 100+ Countries
Visa Expands Stablecoin Cards to 100+ Countries
PLUS: U.S. Perpetual Futures Could Be Coming Soon
Welcome back to The Warmup.
Happy Wednesday! Are we closing green on this beautiful day?
Here’s what we’re watching:
Market Snapshot
Visa Expands Stablecoin Cards to 100+ Countries
U.S. Perpetual Futures Could Be Coming Soon
Market: Crypto is leading the rally as BTC, ETH, and SOL surge while risk sentiment improves.
Visa Expands Stablecoin Cards to 100+ Countries
What’s going on:
Visa and Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure company owned by Stripe, plan to expand their stablecoin card program to more than 100 countries by 2026.
The product launched in 2025 and is currently live in 18 markets, with an early focus on Latin America including Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador.
The cards allow users to spend directly from stablecoin balances in self-custody wallets like MetaMask or Phantom.
Payments run through Visa’s network of 175M+ merchants worldwide.
Previously, stablecoins were converted into fiat at checkout so merchants received local currency.
What it means:
Now the system is evolving. Some transactions will settle directly onchain in stablecoins, removing the need for fiat conversion first.
This is another step toward stablecoins becoming real payment rails.
Visa integrating stablecoins into its settlement layer brings faster transactions, lower friction, and programmable payments into traditional card infrastructure.
At the same time, companies using Bridge’s platform may soon issue their own custom stablecoins and plug them directly into Visa card programs.
U.S. Perpetual Futures Could Be Coming Soon
What’s going on:
The CFTC says it’s working to bring perpetual futures to the U.S. within the next month or so.
Perps are the most popular product in crypto derivatives, accounting for over 90% of global trading volume, yet U.S. traders have largely been locked out due to regulation.
These contracts have no expiration date, allowing traders to hold leveraged positions indefinitely.
Because of that, they’ve become the backbone of global crypto trading.
If regulators move forward, a huge chunk of activity that migrated offshore could start returning to U.S. markets.
What it means:
This creates a mixed outlook for Hyperliquid, the largest onchain perps venue.
On the bullish side, regulatory clarity legitimizes the entire product category and could bring new capital into the market.
That rising tide may benefit onchain platforms as well.
On the bearish side, legalization also opens the door for regulated competitors like Coinbase or Kraken to launch compliant perps for U.S. users.
Most likely outcome: the perps market grows significantly, with liquidity splitting between regulated exchanges and onchain platforms like Hyperliquid.
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Do you think stablecoin payments will become mainstream in the next 5 years? |
The biggest opportunity in AI may not come from the obvious names everyone is chasing, but from the companies that can dramatically lower costs while increasing output through automation.
As AI tools continue improving, entire workflows that once required teams could soon be handled by a fraction of the people, or even by individuals.
That shift has the potential to reshape profit margins across industries and create massive competitive advantages for early adopters.
The investors who focus on which businesses benefit most from this AI efficiency wave may be the ones capturing the next generational opportunity.
— The Warmup Team
Always do your own research. This newsletter is supplemental material to help educate readers as they make their own decisions. Projects mentioned here are provided to give a potential early-mover advantage.