Stablecoin disruptors want to vanquish Visa but face a tough task ahead

A debate broke out on X last week that, by the standards of social media, was refreshingly civil and informed. The topic was whether Visa will continue to dominate payments in the age of agentic commerce, or if that future belongs to blockchain natives wielding stablecoins.

The debate kicked off with the cofounder of a startup called Modern Treasury musing that it’s easy enough for agents to memorize a 16-digit card number, so why is there a need for stablecoins in the first place? Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham then retorted, “Because then you have to add card fees. Why drag Visa along with us into the future like a software virus?”

My instinct, in these situations that pit a powerful incumbent against a disruptive new technology, is to side with the latter. Just look at what became of once-dominant industry leaders like Nokia, Kodak and Blockbuster. In the case of Visa, though, it’s harder to proclaim the company is doomed to become a dinosaur in an era of agents and stablecoins.

One reason, as some who responded to Graham’s tweet pointed out, is that Visa’s........

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