Crossmint has formed a partnership with Western Union to assist the remittance company in launching its USDPT stablecoin together with its Digital Asset Network on the Solana blockchain.
The collaboration will integrate Crossmint’s wallet and payment APIs with Western Union’s infrastructure, enabling fintech platforms to move funds using the USDPT stablecoin and connect directly to Western Union’s global payout network.
The Digital Asset Network enables users to exchange digital dollars for local currency through Western Union’s payment network, which operates more than 360,000 cash pickup locations worldwide.
USDPT stablecoin to run on Solana
According to the announcement, the USDPT stablecoin will be issued on Solana. Crossmint said its infrastructure will allow developers and fintech companies to access the token through existing wallet and payment integrations.
Crossmint’s platform currently serves more than 40,000 clients and provides services such as smart wallets, on- and off-ramps, and cross-chain stablecoin management.
Western Union operates a global money transfer network which extends to more than 200 countries and territories while enabling payments through more than 130 currencies at its retail locations and bank accounts and digital wallets.
Stablecoins gain traction in remittance markets
The primary operation of Western Union involves international money transfers which enable customers to send funds to their overseas family members and recipients situated in different nations. The conventional remittance systems require multiple days to complete their transactions while also imposing substantial costs on users.
The World Bank estimates that worldwide remittances reached approximately $905 billion in 2024. The typical expense of transferring $200 internationally stayed at approximately 6 percent of the total transaction value.
Stablecoins are becoming popular as a replacement for traditional settlement systems. This is because they let dollar-based value move between different blockchain networks quickly and with lower costs.
Research from Chainalysis shows that stablecoins already account for more than half of crypto purchases made with currencies such as the Argentine peso, Brazilian real, and Colombian peso on major exchanges.
The trend is also visible in markets facing inflation and currency volatility, including countries like Nigeria and Turkey, as well as Asian markets such as the Philippines and Vietnam, which rank among the world’s leading countries for grassroots crypto adoption.
At a panel during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January, former UN under-secretary-general Vera Songwe said stablecoins are increasingly used in Africa as a remittance tool, noting that remittance flows to the region have become more significant than foreign aid.