Key facts
- Visa and Dunamu will explore stablecoin payments and cross-border remittances.
- The partnership aims to integrate digital assets with traditional finance.
- Open Standard's proposed OUSD stablecoin is being considered.
- The companies will also examine AI-powered commerce and agentic purchasing.
Visa and Dunamu, the parent company of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, have announced a strategic partnership to explore the integration of stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances, and artificial intelligence-powered commerce. The collaboration seeks to leverage Dunamu's digital asset technology alongside Visa's extensive global payments network to develop new services in key markets.
Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok highlighted the transformative potential of AI, stablecoins, and tokenization in finance and commerce, stating the partnership's goal is to bridge the gap between digital assets and traditional financial systems. As part of this exploration, the companies are considering business models that involve Open Standard's proposed Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-backed stablecoin. Open Standard has indicated that over 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, and BlackRock, have committed to using OUSD. Dunamu clarified that OUSD is one of several stablecoin projects under review and no specific stablecoin has been prioritized for the partnership.
In a related development, Upbit had previously stated in July that it was not involved in the issuance of OUSD, despite its operator, Dunamu, being named among the companies associated with the initiative. Beyond stablecoins, the partnership will also delve into agentic commerce, a concept where AI agents can autonomously search for products, services, and execute purchases and payments on behalf of users. The companies plan to investigate how AI can be combined with stablecoin payment and settlement infrastructure.