Western Union to Launch Solana USDPT Stablecoin for Agents

Western Union plans to launch USDPT, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin built on the Solana blockchain, in May. The token will be used for settlements with the company’s global agent network and will not be sold to retail customers. The initial rollout will be a pilot in select countries.

The pilot is intended to let Western Union and its agent partners complete on-chain transfers at any time, including weekends and bank holidays when traditional banks are closed.

Anchorage Digital Bank, a federally chartered crypto custodian, will issue USDPT. Western Union first disclosed the partnership with Anchorage and Solana in October 2025 and has filed a trademark for “WUUSD.”

Western Union expects on-chain settlement to shorten processing times and reduce settlement costs by routing funds outside traditional banking rails. The company plans to retain revenue from issuance, exchange spreads, transaction fees and float on reserves that might otherwise go to outside stablecoin issuers.

Two companion products will support the stablecoin rollout. The Digital Asset Network, or DAN, is an API that connects crypto wallets to Western Union’s retail and agent footprint, allowing wallet users to convert digital assets into local currency at Western Union locations. The first DAN partner went live the week of April 27, and Western Union expects seven or more partners to activate through the rest of 2026.

The USD Stable Card is planned for later in 2026 and will allow consumers to hold stablecoins and spend them globally. The company has not disclosed which markets or which card network partner will take part.

Devin McGranahan, chief executive, confirmed the timeline on the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call on April 24 and told analysts: “At the foundation of our strategy is USDPT, our U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. It is no longer a question of if Western Union will be active in digital assets; it is now how fast we can scale.”

Western Union enters a market in which several legacy payments firms and fintechs have issued or are developing dollar-backed stablecoins and settlement solutions on high-throughput blockchains. Solana processed hundreds of billions of dollars in adjusted stablecoin volume in a single month earlier this year.

The identities of the initial agent partners for the USDPT pilot, DAN’s early wallet integrations, the pilot markets, and the Stable Card’s network partner remain undisclosed. Western Union will use the limited pilot to test whether the stablecoin reduces settlement costs and speeds enough to justify broader infrastructure changes; future scale will depend on pilot results and additional partner activations throughout 2026.