Stripe expects its stablecoin card programs to reach more than 100 countries by the end of 2026, according to an October 2026 CoinDesk report citing Bridge CEO Henri Stern. That is a target, not confirmation that the expansion is complete. Visa and Bridge had separately announced in March that their cards were live in 18 countries and planned to expand to more than 100 by year-end.
What the 100-country announcement means
The headline refers to a planned expansion of stablecoin-linked card programs built on Bridge infrastructure and Visa’s payment network. CoinDesk reported that Stripe expects those programs to exceed 100 countries by the end of 2026. The report attributes the expectation to Henri Stern; it does not establish that the target has been met.
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Visa and Bridge had announced a similar goal on March 3, 2026: their Bridge-enabled cards were live in 18 countries, with expansion planned to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East by year-end. The announcement described a rollout plan, not a guarantee of availability in every named region or country by a particular date. Visa’s announcement is the primary source for that status.
How Bridge’s stablecoin-linked Visa cards work
Bridge is a Stripe company that provides card-issuing infrastructure through an API for developers and businesses. The service can let a fintech or platform offer a card to its customers; it is not simply a Stripe consumer card that every individual can request directly.
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In Stripe’s description of the 2025 launch, a cardholder spends from a stablecoin balance at merchants that accept Visa. Bridge deducts the required stablecoin amount and converts its value to fiat for the merchant payment. The merchant therefore receives local currency in the described flow; the launch announcement does not say that the merchant accepts or receives stablecoins. The initial programs launched in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. Stripe’s launch description explains the payment mechanics.
Which companies and products are involved?
- Stripe owns Bridge and has reported the expected expansion through a CoinDesk interview with Bridge CEO Henri Stern.
- Bridge supplies the developer-facing infrastructure used to issue stablecoin-linked cards.
- Visa is the card-network partner, enabling cardholders to spend where Visa is accepted.
The companies have cited different platforms in their announcements. CoinDesk named Kraken, Ramp, and Morse as current Bridge card-program customers. Visa and Bridge separately named Phantom and MetaMask as platforms using the cards. These lists come from different sources and should not be treated as a single, exhaustive list of all issuers or markets.
How to distinguish the country figures
Stripe’s Sessions 2026 post discusses separate Stripe product capabilities and roadmap items. It says consumer or commercial stablecoin-backed cards could be enabled in 30 countries, and lists a Q3 public-preview roadmap item for card issuance in 60 countries. Those statements do not replace the Visa and Bridge figures: they refer to a separate Stripe product and include roadmap language, not proof that the listed coverage is currently available.
| Figure | Product or program | Status and source |
|---|---|---|
| 18 countries | Bridge-enabled Visa cards | Live as of Visa and Bridge’s March 3, 2026 announcement. |
| More than 100 countries by year-end 2026 | Bridge/Visa expansion; Stripe expectation as reported | A target announced by Visa and Bridge in March and reported by CoinDesk in October 2026; not confirmation of completion. |
| 30 countries | Separate Stripe stablecoin-backed card capability | Described in Stripe’s Sessions 2026 post; not the Bridge/Visa live-country count. |
| 60 countries | Separate Stripe card-issuance roadmap item | Listed as a Q3 public-preview item in Stripe’s Sessions 2026 post, not an achieved availability figure. |
See Stripe’s Sessions 2026 announcement for its product and roadmap wording. Country counts can change, and a program’s presence in a country does not by itself establish that every consumer can obtain a card there. Access depends on the issuing platform and the terms it offers.
Card spending is not the same as on-chain settlement
The card product’s consumer-facing feature is spending from stablecoin funds through the existing Visa acceptance network. Visa’s March announcement also described a separate pilot involving Visa, issuers and acquirers including Bridge-enabled card issuers, and Lead Bank. That pilot is evaluating settlement over supported blockchain networks, including settlement options, on-chain reconciliation, faster fund movement, and the role of infrastructure platforms. It is an evaluation, not a claim that all card transactions now settle on-chain.
Visa’s Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto, said the company is “committed to meeting businesses where they operate, and increasingly, that’s onchain.” Bridge CEO and cofounder Zach Abrams described the effort as “a multiyear journey to help businesses own their own financial stack.” Those statements express the companies’ strategic aims; they do not change the current distinction between cardholder spending and the settlement pilot.
When will Stripe stablecoin cards be available in 100 countries?
The stated goal is to exceed 100 countries by the end of 2026. As of the cited March announcement, Bridge and Visa said the cards were live in 18 countries; CoinDesk reported Stripe’s expectation in October. Neither source cited here confirms that the year-end goal has already been achieved. Availability should be checked with the specific platform offering a card, because the infrastructure provider’s target does not guarantee an individual customer can sign up in a particular country.
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