Shares of Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. fell on 14 June amid growing discussion that U.S. retailers could turn to stablecoins to cut the interchange fees charged by the dominant card networks. Commentators noted that new payment cards backed by stablecoins, and potentially offering yields near 5% through tokenized U.S. Treasuries, are being promoted as an alternative to traditional credit and debit products. The sell-off renewed debate over whether blockchain-based instruments can displace Visa and Mastercard in consumer payments. Proponents argue that transacting in dollar-pegged tokens would allow merchants to avoid the per-transaction fees assessed by the card networks, while also earning yield on idle balances. William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey urged investors to “accumulate shares of Visa and Mastercard on weakness,” reiterating outperform ratings on both companies. He wrote that, despite the buzz, current stablecoin systems remain ill-suited to large-scale business-to-consumer commerce, suggesting the competitive threat is limited for now.