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ZEC $1,346 Lloyds settles $750,000 with Visa in under an hour using USDC
A seven day live pilot settled $750,000 in cross border payment obligations with USDC, with funds reaching Visa during a weekend.
Key takeaways
- Under an hour. The reports say the money reached Visa in less than an hour, even during the weekend.
- It moved $750,000. Lloyds settled $750,000 in live payment obligations with Visa during a seven-day pilot.
- The pilot ran seven days. The live test lasted seven days and covered settlements between the two firms.
What happened
Lloyds Banking Group and Visa ran a seven day live pilot that settled $750,000 in cross border payment obligations using USDC. Funds reached Visa in under an hour, including during the weekend. Bitcoin.com News reported that the test was the first stablecoin settlement trial between Visa and a major UK banking group.
Lloyds bought the USDC through Archax, a UK regulated digital asset exchange, and then sent the settlement money to Visa. The bank ran its own node on Canton Network, which has configurable privacy features, while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain.
The trial covered real world US dollar settlements between Lloyds' Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and Visa in the United States. Both firms focused on the settlement process between financial institutions rather than changing how customers make payments.
Why it matters
Traditional cross border settlement that starts outside banking hours can take a day or longer, according to Lloyds. The pilot tested whether a stablecoin could support round the clock settlement and improve visibility over when funds arrive.
The test also crossed private and public blockchain environments rather than putting both institutions on one network. Visa has done related work before: in June it tested private stablecoin settlement with Brale using the SBC dollar backed stablecoin on Canton Network.
Lloyds has tested other forms of digital money on the same network. The bank took part in live tokenized deposit transactions alongside Barclays and NatWest, issued tokenized sterling deposits on Canton, and completed three live transactions under the Bank for International Settlements led Project Agorá involving sterling, euros and Swiss francs.
What is still unclear
- The reports do not say whether the pilot will continue past its seven day run or extend to other currencies.
- The reports do not state the cost of running the pilot or the fees involved in the settlement.
Questions readers ask
How long did the Lloyds and Visa stablecoin settlement take?
Funds reached Visa in under an hour, including during the weekend. Traditional cross border settlement can take a day or longer when it begins outside banking hours, according to Lloyds.
Which stablecoin did Lloyds use?
Lloyds used USDC. The bank bought the stablecoin through Archax, a UK regulated digital asset exchange, and then transferred the settlement funds to Visa.
Did the pilot change how customers make payments?
No. The companies focused on the settlement process between financial institutions instead of changing how customers make payments.
Which blockchains did the pilot use?
Lloyds operated its own node on Canton Network, which has configurable privacy features, while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain.
