Western Union will launch Dollar Stablecoin on Solana in 2026

Western Union plans to launch a Solana-based dollar stablecoin through Anchorage Digital in 2026, expanding its move to digital payments.

The new token, called the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), will be part of a network that bridges the gap between digital and traditional money, the company said in a announcement.

It said the network will allow customers to more easily move value between crypto wallets and cash, a step toward faster, cheaper cross-border transfers.

“Western Union’s USDPT will allow us to own the economics associated with stablecoins,” said CEO Devin McGranahan, calling it a major milestone in the company’s digital shift.

USDPT is expected to launch in the first half of 2026.

It’s official:@WesternUnionThe world’s largest money transfer company, built solely on Solana. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dJMnKN5EY4

— Solana (@solana) October 28, 2025

Western Union also said it will launch a “Digital Asset Framework,” which will bring together the company’s global network of partners, including wallets and wallet providers, to give users “access to seamless access to cash off-ramps for digital assets.”

New Stablecoin and framework will “make financial services accessible”

Western Union built the first telegraph line in 1861 and now wants to modernize its network by introducing blockchain-powered transactions that can be processed in seconds, 24 hours a day.

“Digital commerce has brought the world closer together, but access to cash remains localized,” the company said. “Western Union expects its USDPT stablecoin and Digital Asset Network to have the potential to fundamentally reshape the way money moves globally.”

Company executives said the move will be a return to the company’s roots of connecting people through technology, only with more modern rails.

Stablecoin market is still mainly hosted on Ethereum

Western Union said the decision to build on the Solana network and issue the token through Anchorage Digital was due to a shared vision “of modernizing financial infrastructure and expanding digital asset adoption on a global scale” while still complying with regulations.

Issuing stable coins via blockchain (Source: DefiLlama)

Western Union’s choice of network deviates from the industry norm, as many stablecoin issuers have chosen the Ethereum network to stake their tokens.

Data from DefiLlama shows that the Ethereum network has a 53.51% share of the stablecoin market. The second largest share of 25.81% goes to Tron. Solana is in third place with a significantly smaller market share of 4.9%.

That’s even while Solana has a technical lead over Ethereum. Data from Chainspect shows that Solana is the second fastest blockchain in terms of transactions per second (TPS). The data shows that Solana has a theoretical TPS of 65,000 tx/s and a real-time TPS of 767.1 tx/s.

Ranked as the 20th fastest blockchain network, Ethereum has a theoretical TPS of 178.6 tx/s and a real-time TPS of 16.91 tx/s. However, Ethereum does have the support of layer 2 networks like Optimism, Arbitrum, and others, which are increasing speeds in the ETH ecosystem while lowering transaction fees.

USDPT enters a competitive stablecoin market

USDPT will face some strong competitive market leaders, including Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USD Coin (USDCC). USDT is the largest stablecoin on the market with a capitalization of over $183 billion, while USDC’s market cap is over $75 billion.

Circle also announced yesterday that the testnet of its Arc blockchain has gone live, with several leading companies including BlackRock, WisdomTree and others signing up to test the network.

Western Union will also compete with PayPal and MoneyGram, both of which have ventured into the stablecoin space.

PayPal introduced its own dollar-backed stablecoin to Paxos in 2023 and has embedded the token into its money transfer app. Meanwhile, MoneyGram has launched a wallet with USDC support.

In addition, bank-led networks are testing stablecoin payouts for international transfers.

The increasing interest in stablecoins comes after the sector gained regulatory clarity following US President Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act in July.

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