Stablecoin adoption intent rises from 36% to 56% with bank-level protections, Visa says

American consumer interest in stablecoins increases from 36% to 56% when paired with hypothetical bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance, according to a survey released Wednesday by Visa.

Dubbed Money Travels 2026, the report is based on a Morning Consult survey of 2,192 U.S. adults conducted between Feb. 24 and March 2. Respondents were given definitions of key terms, including stablecoins, before answering, the payments giant said in a statement shared with The Block. 

For 64% of respondents, trust depends more on the payment provider than the technology, while willingness to use stablecoins rises from 36% to 45% when they are offered through an existing financial provider.

Visa said traditional commercial banks and global payment networks were the most trusted providers of digital currency services, with 61% and 60% of respondents, respectively, expressing trust in them. 

However, stablecoins remain unfamiliar to much of the U.S. consumer base. Visa said 56% of respondents had never heard of them, while some respondents who had heard of stablecoins incorrectly assumed they fluctuate like bitcoin.

Elsewhere, stablecoins account for a growing pool of global digital-dollar liquidity. The Block’s data dashboard puts the total supply of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins above $295 billion, with Tether’s USDT at about $183.4 billion and Circle’s USDC near $76 billion.

Earlier this month, Visa said stablecoin settlement had surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, up more than 15 times from a year earlier, with more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs live globally.