Western Union has become one of the companies in the money transfer market that decided to enter stablecoins after the adoption of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. this summer.
The company launched its own USDPT stablecoin, pegged to the dollar, on the Solana network. This is the company’s first step toward blockchain payments and on-chain settlements in its transfer system.
The Fireblocks platform reported that at launch, USDPT will appear in Bolivia and the Philippines. Western Union says it plans to expand the use of the stablecoin to more than 40 countries by 2026.
After the adoption of the GENIUS Act, major players have become more active in looking at stablecoins. For example, MoneyGram has already started working with the USDC stablecoin in Colombia, and Zelle announced plans to launch international transfers based on stablecoins.
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At Western Union, they say the launch of USDPT shows how global payments are changing. According to their estimates, more and more financial companies will use regulated digital assets as core infrastructure.
Currently, the total stablecoin market is estimated at about $317.3 billion. According to forecasts by the United States Department of the Treasury and Citigroup, by 2030 it could exceed $2 trillion.
Western Union Plans to Add USDPT to Crypto Exchanges
The USDPT stablecoin is issued by Anchorage Digital. This is the first crypto bank in the U.S. with a federal license. Fireblocks is responsible for wallet and settlement infrastructure.
At Western Union, they plan to add USDPT to licensed crypto exchanges and link them to their payment and liquidity infrastructure.
The launch in Bolivia and the Philippines gives access to the stablecoin to about 130 million people.
Former Bybit marketing director Claudia Wang believes that companies like Western Union still have great potential in the remittance segment. According to her, the market in America has already grown to $174 billion, but there are still many areas where crypto has not yet really reached.
Transfers between the U.S. and Central America are growing especially fast. Within Latin America, many routes still hardly use crypto infrastructure. As an example, she cited transfers from Argentina to Bolivia.
Western Union serves more than 150 million clients in more than 190 countries.
