Solana is edging into mainstream finance as Western Union, one of the world's largest money-transfer companies, moves closer to blockchain with the launch of a new stablecoin issued by Anchorage and operating on the Solana network.
Western Union's decision to launch a stablecoin on Solana marks what executives describe as a major step toward mainstream digital payments.
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Speaking with TheStreet Roundtable's Jackson Hinkle, Sheraz Shere, general manager of payments and commerce at the Solana Foundation, said that stablecoins have already proven their value in real use cases such as cross border payments, but widespread adoption still depends on traditional institutions.
"Stablecoins are top of mind for everyone," he said. "They already have product market fit and they are being used for money movement. But we still need big payment companies and banks that know how to move money at scale to embrace this technology before it can reach the mainstream."
The total stablecoin market cap stands at $305.18 billion, with Tether (USDT) maintaining a 60.1% dominance, according to DeFiLlama data. On Solana, stablecoins now total $13.49 billion, led by USD Coin (USDC), which commands 62.2% of that share.
The figures highlight Solana's growing role in global stablecoin circulation and on-chain payments.
Solana's growing network of payment partners
The Western Union project joins a growing list of major institutions testing or integrating Solana's infrastructure.
The network has attracted payment firms such as Visaand PayPal, both experimenting with settlement on Solana, and was recently listed on major broker platforms alongside Bitcoin , Ethereum , and Litecoin .
When asked how Solana plans to compete with Ethereum and Tron , the two largest networks by stablecoin activity, Shere said dominance comes from real-world utility rather than market cap.
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"On Ethereum, a lot of the stablecoin market cap just sits in vaults," he explained. "There is not much velocity. On Solana, you have actual movement of money. That is what matters."
He also pointed to Solana's technical edge.
"Ethereum is an incredible blockchain, but it does not scale at ten or twelve transactions per second with fees of twenty or thirty dollars," he said. "Solana is fast, inexpensive and built to scale. The vision is to be the internet for finance, the blockchain for finance."
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This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Nov 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the Innovation section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
