Visa and Dunamu, the parent company of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, have announced a strategic partnership to explore stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances, and artificial intelligence-powered commerce.
The collaboration will leverage Dunamu's digital asset technology alongside Visa's global payments network to develop payment, remittance, and settlement services across major markets.
Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok stated that the partnership aims to connect digital assets with traditional finance, citing the growth of AI, stablecoins, and tokenization as transformative trends in finance and commerce.
Stablecoin Considerations
The companies are evaluating business models that may involve Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-backed stablecoin introduced in June. According to Open Standard, more than 140 companies have signed up to use OUSD, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, and BlackRock.
Dunamu clarified that OUSD is one of several stablecoin projects under review and that no specific stablecoin has been prioritized for the partnership. In July, Upbit stated it was not participating in OUSD issuance despite Dunamu being listed among businesses involved in the initiative.
AI-Powered Commerce Focus
The partnership will also explore agentic commerce, where AI agents can search for products and services and execute purchases and payments on behalf of users. Both companies plan to examine integration approaches combining AI capabilities with stablecoin payment and settlement infrastructure.
