Western Union has launched its US dollar-denominated USDPT stablecoin on Solana, marking its first transfer into blockchain-based funds and onchain settlement for its international remittance community.
One of many crypto infrastructure platforms concerned within the launch, Fireblocks, mentioned on Monday that USDPT is initially being rolled out in Bolivia and the Philippines, whereas Western Union mentioned it plans to broaden the stablecoin to greater than 40 international locations in 2026.
Main remittance corporations have been eyeing stablecoins after the passage of the stablecoin-friendly GENIUS Act in July. MoneyGram began providing USDC (USDC) stablecoin providers in Colombia in September, whereas Zelle introduced plans to supply stablecoin-powered cross-border transfers in October.
Western Union mentioned the “launch of USDPT displays a broader shift in how international funds are evolving,” including that extra monetary establishments will undertake “regulated digital belongings as core infrastructure going ahead.”
The stablecoin market cap presently sits at $317.3 billion, a determine that the US Division of the Treasury and Wall Road funding financial institution Citigroup have tipped to develop above $2 trillion by 2030.
Supply: Western Union
Western Union to make USDPT out there on crypto exchanges
USDPT is being issued by crypto infrastructure agency Anchorage Digital, the primary federally regulated crypto financial institution within the US, whereas Fireblocks is offering the pockets and settlement infrastructure for the stablecoin.
Western Union mentioned it plans to make USDPT out there on licensed crypto exchanges and join them to its broader funds and liquidity infrastructure.
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USDPT’s launch in Bolivia and the Philippines makes the stablecoin out there to a mixed 130 million folks.
On Sunday, Bybit’s former chief advertising and marketing officer, Claudia Wang, mentioned there was a possibility for cash transmitter corporations like Western Union to faucet into many untouched remittance corridors within the Americas, which have change into a $174 billion market.
She mentioned remittance corridors between the US and Central America are exploding, whereas many routes from inside Latin America — comparable to from Argentina to Bolivia — have been “nearly untouched by crypto rails.”
Western Union facilitates transfers for greater than 150 million clients throughout greater than 190 international locations.
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