Mike Hale Samsung is adding USDC transfers on Solana to Samsung Wallet, which will let US users send money abroad from 82 million Galaxy devices beginning the last week of October 2026. The partnership with the Solana Foundation covers Samsung Pay as well.
July 22, 2026. Samsung says at Galaxy Unpacked that Samsung Wallet will get native stablecoin support and shows a mockup holding USDC.
August 8, 2026. Samsung says stablecoin accounts, cross-border transfers, and payments will arrive in select countries this year.
October 7, 2026. Samsung and the Solana Foundation name Solana as the network and the US as the first market.
Last week of October 2026. Samsung Wallet USDC transfers begin rolling out in the US.
How Samsung Wallet USDC transfers work
You send money from the same Samsung Wallet screen that holds your cards, boarding passes, and IDs. There's no separate crypto app, and built-in on- and off-ramps convert between USDC and local currency. Woncheol Chai, who heads Samsung's digital wallet team, said the aim is for Galaxy users to move money "without having to navigate the complexity of traditional crypto tools."
Users don't manage private keys, and a transfer can go to one of two places.
Bank accounts. Eligible accounts in more than 60 countries, where the recipient gets local currency and the fee varies by destination
Crypto wallets. Compatible external wallets, which receive USDC with no fee from Samsung, though the receiving platform may charge its own
The 82 million figure counts US Galaxy devices that can run the feature. Samsung says more markets will follow, subject to local regulatory requirements.
Who holds the USDC?
Samsung says custody sits with Bastion, a licensed stablecoin custodian and infrastructure provider that runs the cross-border payment framework for Samsung. Coinbase acts as Bastion's sub-custodian through Coinbase Prime, and Circle issues the USDC. Bastion sells white-label stablecoin infrastructure, so a company like Samsung can offer stablecoin products without getting its own licenses.
Samsung's venture arm invested in Bastion in a $14.6 million round led by Coinbase Ventures, and an October 2025 deal with Coinbase put crypto purchases inside Samsung Wallet for US Galaxy owners.
What Samsung adds to Solana stablecoins
Samsung Wallet adds a consumer remittance app to a network that has processed more than $5.25 trillion in stablecoin volume in 2026, according to the Solana Foundation. The Foundation says stablecoin supply on Solana is up nearly 20% year over year.
The Foundation names PayPal and Western Union as enterprises already using Solana for stablecoins. PayPal issues PYUSD on Solana, and Western Union's USDPT stablecoin is issued there by Anchorage Digital. MoneyGram has put its cash on- and off-ramps behind a Solana API too.
Samsung is betting that Galaxy owners will send money abroad in USDC once the wallet handles the keys and the currency conversion for them. For Solana, Samsung Wallet USDC transfers put the network behind a default app on 82 million phones.