LOS ANGELES, April 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightspark, the open global money company, today announced a partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, to enable stablecoin- and Bitcoin-backed Visa debit cards across more than 100+ countries.
Through Lightspark's Grid platform, financial institutions, businesses and fintech developers will be offered Visa debit cards linked directly to the cardholder’s stablecoin balances, fiat accounts, or Bitcoin holdings—allowing consumers to spend their fiat or digital assets at any Visa-accepting merchant in the world.
From Wallets to the World
Lightspark enables clients to build consumer and business card programs at global scale. Thanks to Spark, Visa cards issued through Lightspark can be funded through:
- Stablecoins: USDC and others across major chains including Solana, Base, and Spark
- Bitcoin via Spark, the Lightning Network or standard L1 funding
- Fiat: USD, EUR, and other currencies
Cardholders can use their balances—wherever they're stored—to make everyday purchases at any Visa-accepting global merchant locations, seamlessly bridging on-chain accounts to everyday purchases.
A Global Network, Now with a Card
Lightspark's Grid already powers real-time fiat and stablecoin payouts to bank accounts across 65+ countries. By working with Visa, the same platform that moves money globally will power full-featured card programs in those countries, with more to come—completing the loop from receive, store, and send to spend.
For businesses launching their own stablecoin programs or branded wallets on Spark, this means cardholders can access their balances with a Visa card, anywhere in the world, from day one.
"Lightspark has built an open global money network allowing value to move on the internet like any other type of content. Partnering with Visa is a major milestone in making digital money usable at 175M+ merchant locations worldwide for consumers and businesses everywhere. Whether your balance is in fiat, stablecoins, or Bitcoin, you should be able to spend it anywhere in the world, instantly." — David Marcus, CEO, Lightspark
"Visa is committed to meeting businesses where they operate, and increasingly, that's onchain. The work we’ll be doing with Lightspark gives us another way to bring the speed, transparency, and programmability of digital assets directly into the payments ecosystem. This reinforces Visa's role as the trusted network connecting digital and traditional finance." — Dan Roesbery, Vice President, Global Onchain Partnerships & GTM
The partnership will be live in the United States and Europe to start, with planned expansion to Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. Lightspark will work with Visa to become a Principal Member, starting in Europe, deepening the integration between Lightspark's payment infrastructure and Visa's global network of 175M+ merchant locations. This will support financial institutions and fintechs using Lightspark's infrastructure to offer Visa cards to their customers, while Lightspark handles compliance, settlement, and program management.
To learn more, see https://www.lightspark.com/grid-global-accounts
About Lightspark
Lightspark is building open payments for the Internet—modern, always-on payment solutions powered by Bitcoin: the only open, neutral network for moving value. With enterprise tools like Connect, UMA, and Spark, businesses can send and receive money instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost, anytime, anywhere. Follow on X @lightspark
Media Contacts
Lightspark: press@lightspark.com
