130 million people in Bolivia and the Philippines now have access to Western Union’s new digital dollar, USDPT – a USD-backed stablecoin that runs on the Solana blockchain.
A big name makes its debut in Blockchain technology
western union, Which moves money to more than 150 million customers across more than 190 countries, has made its first foray into blockchain-based payments.
Company USDPT launched on Monday, marking a major shift for one of the world’s oldest and largest money transfer networks. Plans are already in place to roll out the stablecoin in more than 40 countries before the end of 2026.
The infrastructure behind USDPT involves major players in the cryptocurrency space. Anchorage Digital is the first federally regulated cryptocurrency bank in the United States Stablecoin issuance.
We are excited to announce the launch of USDPT, the USD-backed stablecoin issued by Western Union @Morsi And built on @Solana – Bringing blockchain settlement to our regulated global payments network. He follows @USDPT_ For updates. Learn more: https://t.co/t6h28rhbaz pic.twitter.com/aX6WNJIEoz
– Western Union (@WesternUnion) May 4, 2026
Wallet and settlement operations are handled by Fireblocks, a cryptocurrency infrastructure company. Western Union said it also plans to make USDPT available on and linked to licensed cryptocurrency exchanges Payments are more widespread and liquidity network.
Remittance giants eye blockchain bars
Western Union is not alone in this push. MoneyGram began offering USDC stablecoin services in Colombia in September. Zelle announced plans to conduct cross-border transfers based on stablecoins in October.
The flurry of activity among remittance companies follows the passage in July of the GENIUS Act, a piece of US legislation widely seen as favorable to the development of stablecoins.
Western Union said Launch Reflecting a broader shift in how global payments move, more financial institutions are expected to embrace regulated digital assets as core infrastructure in the future.
The Philippines was a natural choice for an early launch. Remittances make up a large part of the country’s economy, and reports indicate that corridors between the United States and Central America are expanding rapidly.
According to Claudia Wang, former chief marketing officer at Bybit, many routes within Latin America – such as Argentina to Bolivia – are largely untouched by cryptocurrency-based payment systems, making them ripe for new entrants. It described the Americas as a $174 billion remittance market.
Room for growth in a rapidly expanding market
The stablecoin market is already large and is widely expected to become much larger. Data indicates that the total market capitalization currently stands at $317 billion.
Both the US Treasury and Citigroup expect this number to exceed $2 trillion by 2030.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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