Samsung Wallet to launch USDC remittances in the U.S.
Starting in the last week of October, eligible Galaxy users in the United States will be able to send USDC through Samsung Wallet to compatible crypto wallets abroad or to eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries.
The service will be available across 82 million Galaxy devices in the U.S. Recipients can receive local-currency payouts, which means they do not need to open a crypto wallet to get the funds.
Samsung said it will not charge fees for USDC transfers to compatible external wallets. Third-party charges may still apply, including fees from recipient wallets or exchanges.
Coinbase, Bastion, Solana and Sui will support the rollout
Several partners are involved in the setup. Coinbase will custody the stablecoin through Coinbase Prime Vault. Bastion will provide the regulated stablecoin infrastructure. Solana and Sui will supply the underlying blockchain network support.
In a statement released Wednesday announcing the partnership with Samsung, Solana said the feature will be fully compatible with Samsung Wallet, which is already used for cards, IDs and boarding passes.
Through the integration, users will be able to send Circle’s stablecoin, USDC. The report described USDC as the world’s second-largest dollar-pegged token and said institutions favor it for its stronger regulatory backing.
How the product works for users
Samsung said the product removes much of the crypto setup that usually comes with sending stablecoins. Customers will fund transfers through integrated on- and off-ramps, and biometric authentication on a registered Galaxy device will be required to send funds.
“Sending money abroad should feel as convenient as using the wallet already on your phone,” Woncheol Chai, Samsung Electronics’ head of its digital-wallet team, said. “We’re bringing USDC transfers into Samsung Wallet so eligible Galaxy users can get started without installing another app or managing private keys themselves.”
Under the announced design, users will be able to send USDC to compatible crypto wallets abroad or directly to eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries, with recipients receiving funds in local currency.
Samsung’s stablecoin plan moves into a consumer product
The launch turns Samsung’s broader stablecoin ambitions into a consumer-facing product. In August, Samsung said it planned to add stablecoin savings and payment features to hundreds of millions of Galaxy phones. At the time, analysts cited by CoinDesk said the move could make Samsung a major distributor of digital dollars. The U.S. rollout is the company’s first large-scale deployment.
The report said embedding the technology into a familiar payments app already installed on tens of millions of phones pushes stablecoins beyond speculative trading and toward a simpler remittance product. In this setup, the recipient can receive fiat in a bank account without ever opening a crypto wallet.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s annual report, stablecoin use in cross-border transactions has expanded strongly this year because of low transaction costs.
What executives and industry participants said
“Stablecoins have the potential to make moving money around the world faster and easier, and we want Galaxy users to be able to take advantage of that without having to navigate the complexity of traditional crypto tools,” said Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation.
Liu also said stablecoins have shown that blockchain is a highly efficient way to move money quickly and cheaply around the world. She added that stablecoins had been missing a path to mainstream adoption, and said Samsung’s partnership changes that.
Borderless made a similar point in a statement to CoinDesk.
“Mass adoption was never going to come from people downloading crypto apps. It comes from the phone already in your pocket. I expect Apple and Google to follow, and when they do, sending money abroad will feel as easy as sending a text,” Kevin Lehtiniitty, CEO of Borderless.xyz, said via LinkedIn.
Expansion outside the U.S. has not been scheduled
Samsung has not said when the feature will expand beyond the United States. The company said future availability will depend on local regulation.
Samsung also said it may later enable stablecoin payments online and through tap-to-pay transactions on eligible Galaxy phones.