Visa says U.S. consumer interest in stablecoins could rise significantly if they came with protections similar to those offered by traditional banks.
According to Visa’s Money Travels 2026 report, 36% of U.S. respondents said they would consider using stablecoins under normal conditions. That number increased to 45% when the service was offered through an existing financial provider.
When the survey added hypothetical bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance, interest rose to 56%.
Visa stressed that the 56% figure represents what people said they might do under a hypothetical scenario. It does not mean that 56% of Americans currently use or plan to use stablecoins.
The survey was conducted by Morning Consult between Feb. 24 and March 2. It included 2,192 U.S. adults and more than 45,000 respondents across 20 markets.
Trust in the company providing the payment service was also a major factor. Visa found that 64% of Americans cared more about who provides a payment method than the technology behind it.
Traditional commercial banks received a 61% trust rating for digital currency services, while global payment networks received 60%.
Awareness of stablecoins was still relatively low. About 56% of U.S. respondents said they had never heard of stablecoins before taking part in the survey. Visa also found that some people who knew about stablecoins incorrectly believed they could move in price like Bitcoin.
The survey showed that stronger security could influence how people use digital payment systems. Around 45% of U.S. respondents said they would accept a 24-hour delay for a transfer if it provided stronger protection against fraud.
However, the deposit insurance mentioned in the survey is not currently available for stablecoins in the same way it is for insured bank deposits.
Visa noted that stablecoins are not currently covered by FDIC deposit insurance. U.S. regulators are still working on rules under the GENIUS Act, including requirements for stablecoin reserves, redemption, liquidity and risk management.
The Federal Reserve also recently clarified that payment stablecoins must have 1-to-1 reserve backing under the law, but the stablecoins themselves are not federally insured deposits.
Fraud and security concerns were another major part of Visa’s research.
About 36% of U.S. respondents said they had encountered scams connected to international money transfers. These included fake messages, impersonation attempts and fraudulent investment schemes.
AI-related scams are also becoming a concern. Visa found that 24% of respondents had received AI-generated messages that appeared genuine, while 44% were worried about deepfakes being used to impersonate family members.
At the same time, Visa is continuing to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure.
The company said in September that more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were operating on its network. Payment volume from these programs had increased by nearly 200% year over year.
Visa also said its annualized stablecoin settlement volume had passed $20 billion, more than 15 times the level reported a year earlier.
The company has been expanding its support for different blockchain networks as well. Its settlement program now supports nine blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc and Tempo.
Visa also launched its Stablecoin Platform in July for banks, fintech companies and crypto businesses. The platform is designed to allow selected clients to mint, redeem, hold and transfer Open USD, along with providing wallet infrastructure and transaction controls.
For now, Visa’s research suggests that consumer trust and financial protections could play an important role in whether stablecoins gain wider use in everyday payments.
