Lloyds and Visa Complete $750,000 USDC Settlement Pilot on Canton Network

Lloyds and Visa successfully completed a seven-day live pilot program to settle $750,000 in payment obligations using the USDC stablecoin. By operating a node on the Canton Network and sourcing assets through the UK-regulated exchange Archax, Lloyds demonstrated a workflow that bypasses traditional banking rails. The trial achieved settlement in under an hour, significantly outperforming the standard cross-border settlement time of one or more days. Notably, the pilot maintained this speed even when transactions were executed outside of conventional banking hours. This test highlights the growing institutional interest in utilizing stablecoins to bridge disparate blockchain environments for cross-border payments. By integrating public blockchains with institutional infrastructure, the participants showcased a viable path for modernizing legacy financial settlement processes. While the pilot was limited in scope, it serves as a concrete example of how major financial entities are testing blockchain-based alternatives to improve liquidity and operational efficiency.