Western Union starts its own stablecoin

Thanks to stablecoins (such as Tether and USDT), a real use case has been found for crypto: as a means of trading remittances, or money transfers by migrants. Expats from poorer Eastern Europe, for example, working in wealthier Western Europe, often used to send money back to their families using the services of international currency exchange offices like Western Union. They would pay Western Union a fee for doing so.

Remittances, defined as money transfers by migrants to their home countries, play a crucial role in the global economy and the livelihoods of individuals and families.

“Western Union plans to launch a dollar-backed stablecoin to let its 100 million customers send money internationally detached from local currency fluctuations and risks” $WU pic.twitter.com/ZgIEUaAEzh

— Jevgenijs Kazanins (@jevgenijs) October 28, 2025

Western Union, seeing the challenge it is getting from crypto, is therefore changing its own business model and will start with its very own stablecoin in 2026, one that will be linked to the US dollar.

Circle

This new coin will be launched on the Solana blockchain and will be called USDPT, or US Dollar Payment Token. Given that Western Union has over 100 million customers worldwide, this represents a huge market shift.

Some of Western Union’s competitors, such as MoneyGram and PayPal, have already launched their own stablecoins, but lack the market share of Western Unionn whose name recognition is truly global.

Since the introduction of the Genius Act, the US legislation that facilitates the issuance of stablecoins, Western Union’s share price has fallen by some 10%. Shares of Circle Internet Group, the new tech company issuing stablecoins, have risen by 300% during the same period.