Visa will join the Canton Network as the first major global payments company to serve as a Super Validator, to help extend privacy‑preserving blockchain infrastructure to banks and financial institutions around the world. Visa will be one of 40 Super Validators on Canton.
That move goes straight to a core challenge for financial institutions: the same transparency that gives blockchains their appeal can clash with privacy expectations financial institutions operate under.
As a Super Validator, Visa will help clients who choose to run and secure operations on the Canton Network, applying the same standards it uses to operate critical payment systems today. Institutions can experiment with and scale stablecoin payments, settlement and treasury use cases without changing how they already manage risk, compliance and operations.
“Many banks see the lack of privacy as a dealbreaker for moving meaningful activity on-chain,” said Visa’s Rubail Birwadker. “By operating as a Super Validator on Canton Network, we’re bringing Visa-grade trust, governance and operational rigor that define Visa’s global network to privacy‑preserving blockchain infrastructure, so regulated FIs can bring payments on-chain without having to rethink how they operate.”
With Visa joining, Canton will now connect capital markets with payments and bring on-chain payments directly into the Canton ecosystem.
Many financial institutions have avoided public blockchains because anyone can see transaction details, raising concerns about transparency, data leaks, and compliance.
Canton’s configurable privacy model is designed for real-world use cases – banks can’t run payroll if salaries are public and trading firms can’t reveal every position and trade without hurting price discovery. Canton combines strong privacy with the ability to connect different applications and assets on the same network. Institutions can adopt blockchain without compromising confidentiality or control.
“Canton was built to meet the requirements of regulated finance from day one,” said Eric Saraniecki, head of network strategy for digital assets and co-creator of Canton. “Visa’s participation as a Super Validator reinforces that this technology has matured beyond experimentation and into production‑ready infrastructure. Bringing payments on-chain, alongside assets, unlocks the next phase of financial markets, where transactions can move with the speed of blockchain while remaining private, secure, and compliant.”
Visa’s participation builds on its existing digital asset and stablecoin work, including:
- Stablecoin settlement, which has reached an annualized run rate of $4.6 billion globally;
- Stablecoin‑linked cards, with more than 130 programs across more than 50 countries; and
- A specialized Stablecoins Advisory Practice by Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA), advising clients ranging from financial institutions to fintechs on stablecoin strategy and onchain capabilities, helping clients assess how participation in Canton Network and other initiatives align with their objectives.