Western Union just dropped some pretty big news: they’re creating their own dollar-backed stablecoin called USDPT and launching it on Solana early next year. For a company that’s been around forever doing old-school money transfers, this is a huge pivot into crypto.
Here’s what they’re planning: USDPT will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank , which is actually a federally regulated crypto custodian, so at least it’s legit. The cool part is they’re tying it into their massive network of 600,000 agents across 200-plus countries. You could send someone USDPT from your wallet, and they could walk into a Western Union location and grab cash.
They picked Solana because the fees are dirt cheap and transactions settle in seconds. When you’re dealing with remittances, especially small amounts, high fees kill the whole business model. Solana makes sending $20 internationally actually make sense cost-wise.
Western Union’s basically copying what MoneyGram already did with USDC on Stellar. PayPal has PYUSD too. Everyone’s racing to get stablecoins working for regular people who need to send money home.
The stock jumped 6.5% when they announced this, though it’s still down 10% for the year overall. CEO Devin McGranahan says they’re trying to make digital assets actually useful for everyday remittance customers instead of just crypto nerds.
Conclusion
Overall, this move positions Western Union to stay relevant as money transfers go digital. By pairing a stablecoin with their global cash network, they’re aiming to make crypto practical, affordable, and actually useful for everyday cross-border payments.
Also Read: India Extends Crypto Reign
