Visa survey says stablecoin interest doubles with 'bank-level' protections — protections stablecoins don't have

Visa says American willingness to use stablecoins rises from 36% to 56% when the tokens are described as carrying bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance, according to its Money Travels 2026 report, released Wednesday and covered by The Block. The catch, unstated in the headline number: those protections are hypothetical. The survey asked how people would feel if stablecoins had them.

The report draws on a Morning Consult survey of 2,192 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 24 to March 2, with respondents given definitions of terms including "stablecoin" before answering. On trust, 64% said it depends more on the payment provider than the underlying technology, and stated willingness rose from 36% to 45% when stablecoins were offered through an existing financial provider. Traditional commercial banks (61%) and global payment networks (60%) were the most-trusted providers of digital-currency services.

Sitting against all of that: 56% of respondents said they had never heard of stablecoins, and some who had assumed the tokens fluctuate in price like bitcoin.

For scale, The Block's dashboard puts total U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin supply above $295 billion, led by Tether's USDT at about $183.4 billion and Circle's USDC near $76 billion. Visa separately said earlier this month that stablecoin settlement had passed a $20 billion annualized run rate — more than 15 times higher than a year earlier — across 160-plus stablecoin-linked card programs.

Key facts

• Interest rises 36% → 56% with hypothetical bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance (Visa Money Travels 2026, via The Block).
• Survey: Morning Consult, 2,192 U.S. adults, Feb. 24–March 2; terms defined for respondents (Visa).
• 64% say trust hinges on the provider, not the tech; willingness rises to 45% via an existing financial provider (Visa).
• Most-trusted providers: commercial banks 61%, global payment networks 60% (Visa).
• 56% had never heard of stablecoins; some thought they move like bitcoin (Visa).
• Total USD stablecoin supply above $295B — USDT ~$183.4B, USDC ~$76B (The Block dashboard).
• Visa: stablecoin settlement past a $20B annualized run rate, up 15x YoY, 160+ card programs (Visa, earlier this month).

The real-world read

This is Visa's own survey, and Visa is not a neutral observer — it settles stablecoin transactions and runs the card programs it cites, so wider adoption is its business. The headline stat rests on a hypothetical: respondents were asked to imagine "bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance." Stablecoins carry neither. FDIC insurance covers bank deposits, not stablecoin balances, and issuers' reserve arrangements are not the same thing. So the 36→56% jump measures appetite for a product that doesn't exist as described, not for stablecoins as they are.

The internal tension is the tell: the same survey that finds 56% "would use" stablecoins finds 56% have never heard of them, and some confuse them with bitcoin. That's a read on branding and framing, not demonstrated demand. The settlement and card figures, meanwhile, are Visa's own self-reported numbers.

This is news coverage, not financial advice.

Sources

• The Block (secondary reporting), Sept. 23, 2026 — reported the survey findings and supplied the stablecoin supply figures from its own data dashboard.
• Visa, Money Travels 2026 (primary, but an interested party's commissioned survey/marketing) — source of all adoption, trust, and settlement figures; Visa benefits commercially from stablecoin adoption, and the 36→56% figure is based on hypothetical protections.