Some of the biggest merchants are exploring how to issue or use stablecoins, potentially shifting the high volumes of cash and card transactions that they handle outside the traditional financial system and saving them billions of dollars in fees.

Major retailers, including Walmart and Amazon, are reportedly considering their own stablecoin offerings as legislation to regulate the instruments moves further through Congress. The big picture: For big retail,

Shares of Visa and Mastercard were sliding Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart and Amazon.com, among other merchants, have been considering issuing their own stablecoins to customers,