Western Union to pilot stablecoin settlement on Solana

Western Union said on Tuesday it will pilot a stablecoin-based settlement system built on the Solana blockchain, aiming to speed and cut the cost of cross-border remittances for its more than 150 million customers. The company expects the US Dollar Payment Token, or USDPT, and an associated Digital Asset Network to begin rolling out in the first half of 2026, with Anchorage Digital Bank acting as issuer and custodian and partner exchanges providing customer access.

The pilot, announced during Western Union's third-quarter earnings call, is intended to move settlement onto on-chain rails to reduce reliance on legacy correspondent banking, shorten settlement windows and improve capital efficiency. "We see significant opportunities for us to be able to move money faster with greater transparency and at lower cost without compromising compliance or customer trust," CEO Devin McGranahan said on the call. At the Money 2020 USA conference he added, "For 175 years, we've been connecting people, moving 150 billion a year. Digital assets is the next evolution," and said the company selected Solana after comparing alternatives.

Western Union processes roughly 70 million transfers each...