Mixed week for crypto: Hyperliquid onboards Unitree, Bitcoin ETFs see $211M inflows, but Hashdex shuts down its spot Bitcoin ETF and Eliza OS winds down; institutional support grows with Circle's Arc partners and Rain's Western Union stablecoin integration.
DeFi & Yields ·
Western Union launched Stablecard on Rain's stablecoin infrastructure, enabling remittance recipients to receive funds as USDPT—a stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank on Solana—and spend them instantly via Visa at over 175 million merchant locations worldwide. The mobile app, now live on Google Play and the App Store, allows customers to hold digital dollars or convert to cash at Western Union locations, marking a shift from the traditional model where recipients collected physical funds at physical branches. The rollout covers 37 markets initially, with expansion to 60+ expected by year's end.
The infrastructure reduces Western Union's capital requirements by eliminating the need to prefund bank accounts globally and maintain idle reserves across time zones. Stablecoins settle in seconds around the clock, allowing the company to move funds on demand rather than days in advance based on forecasts. The digital wallet also extends the customer relationship beyond the initial transaction, creating opportunities for additional services such as onchain loyalty programs.
Stablecard goes live in 37 markets, with Western Union targeting broader geographic coverage by year-end. The broader implications for Western Union's business model—including revenue diversification and whether digital dollar adoption will match traditional remittance volumes in target markets—remain to be seen as the service scales.