Key Highlights
- Western Union has filed a trademark application for “WUUSD” just a day after it announced the launch of its stablecoin, USDPT
- The financial service provider is planning to launch its stablecoin on Solana and will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank
- After the approval of the GENIUS Act, many major banks and financial institutions are planning to launch stablecoins
Western Union has filed a trademark application for “WUUSD” just one day after it announced its USDPT stablecoin on October 28. The 174-year-old remittance service provider is preparing to integrate the stablecoin with its existing infrastructure, whose market capitalization currently stands at around $316 billion.
Western Union Plans to Launch Stablecoin
The trademark filing is available on the U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE website. The U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), fully backed 1:1 by USD reserves, will launch on the Solana blockchain network. This launch is expected to take place in the first half of 2026, and new stablecoins will be issued by federally regulated Anchorage Digital Bank.
Western Union’s CEO Devin McGranahan expressed his confidence in this development, saying, “We are a long way from the telegraph, but the idea of connecting people and using technology to do it is deeply in our roots for 175 years. Moving into digital assets and stablecoins is just the next chapter in that long journey of connecting people through technology.”
The stablecoin will be supported by a new Digital Asset Network, designed as a last-mile solution. This network will partner with digital wallets to provide instant conversions from cryptocurrency to traditional cash at Western Union agent locations across the world. This system directly addresses a major challenge in the digital economy and provides easy access to local currency.
The Solana blockchain was selected for its ability to process transactions in less than a second with fees that are a fraction of a cent, which makes it an ideal fit for high-volume remittance markets. This performance was found to outperform competing technologies like Ripple, which Western Union had tested back in 2018 and found lacking.
The official announcement by Western Union was made at the Money20/20 USA conference, which triggered a positive response in the cryptocurrency market. Its stock quickly jumped after this news came out.
GENIUS Act Approval Establishes First U.S. Stablecoin Framework
U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoin Act (GENIUS Act) into law on July 18. This legislation creates the first comprehensive federal rules for payment stablecoins.
This new act mandates that all stablecoins must be fully backed one-to-one by secure and liquid assets like USD or Treasury Securities. Issuers must also conduct monthly public audits to provide proof of their reserves, follow strict anti-money laundering laws, and can only be licensed subsidiaries of banks or specially approved non-bank companies.
Major Financial Institutions Launch Stablecoin Initiatives
The new regulatory clarity has prompted an immediate and massive response from the traditional financial sector. By late 2025, more than 20 major banks and financial institutions were actively developing or launching their own stablecoin projects.
JPMorgan Chase is leading this charge by expanding its JPM Coin program and considering a full stablecoin launch. Bank of America and Citigroup have formed a joint venture to create a consortium-backed stablecoin, with Citigroup also preparing to launch new crypto custody services in partnership with Coinbase.
Goldman Sachs is co-leading a global project with 8 other major banks, including Deutsche Bank and Barclays, to build a multi-currency digital settlement system for large institutional payments.
This trend is not only confined to the United States. European banks are also advancing quickly. Société Générale has already launched a compliant stablecoin called USD CoinVertible on major blockchain networks. In the payment sector, the popular service Zelle, which is owned by a group of 7 large U.S. banks, is integrating stablecoin technology to enable instant peer-to-peer transfers for its millions of users.
Smaller, specialized banks are also participating by activating tokenized deposit networks that connect traditional banking with blockchain technology.
