Initial deployment is planned for the United States and Europe, with possible expansion to Asia.
Bitcoin can be used through the Lightning Network or compatible settlement layers.
Visa and Lightspark declared an alliance to enable debit cards linked to stablecoins, bitcoin (BTC) and fiat currencies, which will allow payments to be made on Visa’s global network. The announcement, made on April 29, 2026, is part of attempts to integrate digital asset infrastructure with traditional payment systems.
The initiative is supported by the Lightspark Grid platform, designed to process and connect payment flows in different markets. Through this infrastructure, cards can be financed with stablecoins such as USDC on networks such as Solana or Base, bitcoin through the Lightning Network or other settlement layers, and fiat currencies such as dollars or euros.
The operation searches reduce the need for manual conversions between digital assets and traditional money. Instead of transferring funds between systems, users could directly use their cryptocurrency or fiat balances to make payments at any merchant that accepts Visa, a network that has more than 175 million acceptance points globally.
Lightspark already operates real-time payment systems in more than 65 countries. With this development, the card infrastructure is incorporated into its service network. For its part, Visa integrates these flows within its existing payments network, expanding its connection with digital assets.
Initial deployment is planned for the United States and Europewith subsequent expansion to Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Lightspark will also participate as a core member of Visa in Europe within the framework of this integration. So far there is no specific date when the cards will be available.
The movement is part of a strategy that the company has been developing since 2024. As reported by CriptoNoticias, since then Visa has expanded its “Global Stablecoin Settlement Pilot Program” with the incorporation of networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Base and Polygon, among others, to allow the settlement of transactions with these assets in its payment infrastructure.