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Western Union plans to launch a Solana-based dollar stablecoin in 2026 through Anchorage Digital, extending its move into digital payments.
The new token, called the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), will be part of a network that bridges digital and traditional money, the company said in an announcement.
It said the network will enable customers to move value more easily between crypto wallets and cash, a step toward faster, cheaper cross-border transfers.
“Western Union’s USDPT will allow us to own the economics linked to stablecoins,” CEO Devin McGranahan said, calling it a key milestone in the company’s digital shift.
USDPT is expected to launch in the first half of 2026.
It’s official:@WesternUnion, the world’s largest money transfer business, is building exclusively 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 firm’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 is now looking to modernize its network by introducing blockchain-powered transactions that are able to clear in seconds around the clock.
“Digital commerce has resulted in the world coming closer together, but access to cash remains localized,” the company said. “Western Union anticipates that its USDPT stablecoin and Digital Asset Network have the potential to fundamentally reshape how money moves worldwide.”
Executives from the firm said that the move will be a return to the company’s roots of connecting people through technology, just with more modern rails.
Stablecoin Market Still Predominantly Hosted On Ethereum
Western Union said that the decision to build on the Solana network and issue its token through Anchorage Digital was due to a shared vision “of modernising financial infrastructure and expanding digital asset adoption on a global scale,” while still complying with regulations.
Stablecoin issuance by blockchain (Source: DefiLlama)
Western Union’s choice of network deviates from the industry norm, as many stablecoin issuers have chosen the Ethereum network to deploy their tokens.
Data from DefiLlama shows that the Ethereum network has a 53.51% share of the stablecoin market. The next-biggest share of 25.81% goes to Tron. Solana takes third place with its substantially smaller 4.9% market share.
That’s even as Solana holds a technical edge over Ethereum. Data from Chainspect shows that Solana is ranked 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-quickest 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 such as Optimism, Arbitrum and others, which boosts speeds in the ETH ecosystem while also slashing transaction fees.
USDPT Enters A Competitive Stablecoin Market
USDPT will face some strong competition market leaders including Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USD Coin (USDCC). USDT is the largest stablecoin in the market with a capitalization of more than $183 billion, while USDC’s market cap stands at over $75 billion.
Circle also announced yesterday that its Arc blockchain’s testnet has gone live, with several leading firms including BlackRock, WisdomTree, and others signing up to test the network.
Western Union will compete with the likes of PayPal and MoneyGram as well, which have both ventured into the stablecoin space.
PayPal introduced its own dollar-backed stablecoin with Paxos in 2023 and has embedded the token in its remittance app. Meanwhile, MoneyGram has launched a wallet with support for USDC.
In addition to that, bank-led networks are testing stablecoin payouts for international transfers.
The rising interest in stablecoins comes after the industry gained regulatory clarity following US President Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act into law in July.
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