Global remittance giant Western Union is testing stablecoin-based settlement infrastructure to power its treasury operations and transform how it moves money across international borders, marking a significant strategic pivot for the 175-year-old financial institution.
During the company's third-quarter 2025 earnings call, CEO Devin McGranahan revealed that Western Union is "actively testing stablecoin-enabled solutions" designed to reduce dependency on legacy correspondent banking systems, shorten settlement windows, and improve capital efficiency. The initiative represents one of the most substantial blockchain adoption efforts by a traditional money transfer company serving more than 150 million customers across 200 countries.
Breaking With Tradition: A Cautious Giant Goes Digital
Western Union's move into digital assets marks a notable departure from its historically conservative approach to cryptocurrency. For years, the company maintained skepticism toward crypto markets, driven by concerns about volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and customer protection. However, the landscape shifted dramatically following the passage of landmark stablecoin legislation in the United States.
"Historically, Western Union has taken a cautious stance towards crypto, driven by concerns around volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and customer protection," McGranahan explained during the earnings call. "However, with the passage of the GENIUS Act, we are now seeing potentially interesting opportunities to integrate digital assets into our business."
The GENIUS Act Opens New Doors
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 18, 2025, established the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers in the United States. The legislation requires 100% reserve backing with liquid assets like U.S. Treasury bills and U.S. dollar deposits, while creating clear consumer protection standards and anti-money laundering requirements.
The regulatory clarity provided by the GENIUS Act has encouraged traditional financial institutions to explore stablecoin integration with greater confidence. Since its passage, major players including Mastercard have announced plans to use stablecoins for settlement and payments, signaling a broader industry shift toward blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
How Western Union Plans to Use Stablecoins
Western Union's stablecoin pilot focuses primarily on backend treasury operations and settlement processes. By leveraging blockchain settlement rails, the company aims to "move money faster with greater transparency and at lower cost" without compromising compliance or customer trust, according to McGranahan.
The testing phase involves using stablecoins to facilitate real-time settlement with partners, potentially eliminating the delays and costs associated with traditional correspondent banking networks. This approach could significantly reduce the time required for cross-border transfers, which often take multiple business days using legacy systems.
Beyond treasury operations, Western Union is exploring ambitious plans to transform its global network into a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets. McGranahan revealed the company is "exploring how our global payments network can serve as an on-ramp and an off-ramp between fiat and digital currencies," particularly in regions where traditional banking infrastructure remains limited but crypto adoption is growing.
The company is also working to expand partnerships that would allow customers to hold and transfer stablecoins directly, though specific implementation timelines have not been disclosed. This customer-facing approach could enable Western Union's massive user base to access dollar-denominated digital assets, providing a hedge against local currency devaluation in high-inflation economies.
"In many parts of the world, being able to hold a U.S. dollar-denominated asset has real value as inflation and currency devaluation can rapidly erode purchasing power," McGranahan noted during the earnings call.
Western Union's Blockchain History
While the current stablecoin initiative represents Western Union's most significant blockchain commitment to date, the company has dabbled in digital currency technology for nearly a decade. Western Union ran pilot programs using Ripple's blockchain and the XRP token for cross-border payments as early as 2015.
In 2018, the company conducted another test with Ripple's xRapid product, which utilized XRP for payment flows. However, these early pilots failed to produce significant operational changes, with then-CEO Hikmet Ersek stating the technology was "still too expensive" at the time. A Western Union spokesperson clarified in 2023 that the Ripple pilot "concluded a number of years ago" and the company has not subsequently worked with the blockchain firm.
In 2022, Western Union filed multiple trademarks for various crypto-oriented services, signaling sustained interest in the digital asset space despite the unsuccessful Ripple experiments. Earlier in 2025, McGranahan indicated the company viewed stablecoins as an opportunity and was looking to make stablecoin-to-fiat settlement services available across regions like Latin America and Africa.
Competitive Pressure Mounts
Western Union's stablecoin pilot comes as competitors accelerate their own blockchain initiatives, creating pressure on the legacy remittance provider to modernize or risk losing market share to more agile fintech rivals.
MoneyGram, Western Union's primary competitor, launched instant USDC remittances in Colombia in September 2025 through a partnership with wallet infrastructure provider Crossmint. The service enables recipients to receive and hold funds in Circle's USDC stablecoin, offering protection against Colombian peso devaluation while providing access to MoneyGram's network of over 6,000 locations across the country for cash-out options.
PayPal, which entered the payments space that Western Union has dominated for over a century, rolled out its PYUSD stablecoin to facilitate faster payments and transfers within its ecosystem. The company launched PYUSD in 2023 and has since expanded its availability to the Stellar blockchain, pending regulatory approval, to enhance cross-border payment capabilities.
These competitive moves have put Western Union's traditional business model under strain. The company processes approximately 70 million transfers each quarter, but faces declining market share as blockchain-native solutions offer near-instant settlement with sub-1% fees compared to traditional remittance costs that can exceed 6-7% for certain corridors.
The Stablecoin Market Opportunity
The timing of Western Union's pilot aligns with explosive growth in the stablecoin market. According to U.S. Treasury estimates, the stablecoin market, currently valued at over $300 billion, could expand to $2 trillion by 2028, underscoring the technology's growing role in global finance.
Stablecoins offer several advantages over traditional payment rails, including 24/7 operation without bank holidays, near-instant settlement, programmability, and dramatically lower transaction costs. For Western Union, adopting this technology could help preserve its competitive position while serving customers more efficiently.
The company's extensive global infrastructure - including hundreds of thousands of agent locations worldwide - could become a valuable asset in the stablecoin economy by providing critical cash on-ramps and off-ramps in markets where digital-to-fiat conversion options are limited.
What's Next for Western Union
While Western Union has not disclosed which specific stablecoins or blockchain networks are involved in its current pilots, the company's emphasis on regulatory compliance and the influence of the GENIUS Act suggest a focus on fully regulated, dollar-backed stablecoins such as USDC or USDT.
The company is expected to provide additional details about its stablecoin strategy and potential rollout timelines during future earnings calls. Any public launch would likely begin with specific geographic corridors where the technology offers the most significant advantages, such as high-volume remittance routes between the United States and Latin American countries.
McGranahan emphasized that the stablecoin initiative is "not about speculation" but rather about "giving our customers more choice and control in how they manage and move their money." This focus on practical utility over investment returns distinguishes Western Union's approach from many crypto ventures and aligns with its core mission of providing reliable money transfer services.
As the 175-year-old institution navigates its digital transformation, the success or failure of its stablecoin pilots could determine whether Western Union maintains its position as a global remittance leader or becomes another cautionary tale of legacy companies that failed to adapt quickly enough to technological disruption.
For millions of families worldwide who depend on remittances for essential expenses like food, housing, and education, Western Union's blockchain experiments could eventually translate into faster, cheaper, and more transparent ways to send money across borders - a development that would benefit the global economy's most vulnerable participants.