Eligible users with a Galaxy phone in the United States will be able to send USDC from Samsung Wallet starting in the last week of October, Samsung Electronics America said. USDC, a stablecoin denominated in U.S. dollars, will be the first one the app supports. When someone selects “Buy Stablecoin,” USDC will appear on that screen, already set as the default dollar stablecoin. The rollout will reach the 82 million Galaxy devices in the United States that work with Samsung Wallet.

A stablecoin is a digital token built to hold a steady value against a government currency.

“Sending money abroad should feel as convenient as using the wallet already on your phone,” said Woncheol Chai, EVP and Head of the Digital Wallet Team at the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re bringing USDC transfers into Samsung Wallet so eligible Galaxy users can get started without installing another app or managing private keys themselves.”

U.S. residents, 18 or older

Only eligible U.S. residents 18 or older who hold a Samsung Account will get the feature on a Galaxy device compatible with Samsung Wallet and running Android 13 or later, Samsung said. Opening the account, confirming identity, and setting up biometric authentication will all be required, and each send will need that same check on the registered phone, which will be the secure gateway for the feature.

Crypto wallets abroad

Eligible users will be able to send USDC from Samsung Wallet to a compatible wallet abroad, meaning another company’s crypto wallet or an exchange account that accepts USDC on a blockchain network the app also supports, Samsung said. A transfer will arrive within seconds, though the wait will depend on conditions on that network. Samsung will charge nothing to send to an outside wallet, but the receiving wallet or exchange may take its own fee. Transfers to sanctioned jurisdictions will be blocked. The feature will also work for splitting the cost of a trip or sending money to a friend.

Bank accounts in 60 countries

Those users will also be able to send money to bank accounts that qualify in more than 60 countries, Samsung said, and the recipient will be paid in local currency without needing a crypto wallet. The app will list the countries and show, before the sender confirms, a fee that changes with the country and the amount, plus an estimate of the delivery time. Some banks and account types may not qualify, and delivery times may vary.

Bastion and Coinbase Prime Vault

Bastion will run the stablecoin accounts and operate the USDC service with Coinbase, Samsung said. Coinbase, Bastion’s official sub-custodian, will hold all of the USDC in Coinbase Prime Vault, and Bastion does not issue a stablecoin of its own. Regulated partners, not Samsung, will handle the accounts, the custody, and the movement of money under terms they set. Samsung is not a bank, a money transmitter, or a digital asset custodian, and it does not hold customer funds.

Samsung called the USDC work the next chapter of its partnership with Coinbase, after adding Samsung Pay as a way to pay inside the Coinbase app and offering Coinbase One benefits in Samsung Wallet to eligible users.

Bastion Platforms Trust Company, LLC is a New York limited-purpose trust company. On Sept. 18 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave it conditional approval in Corporate Decision #1391 to convert into a national trust bank.

Solana and Sui

Other firms, Solana and Sui among them, will provide infrastructure and blockchain network support for these transfers, Samsung said.

The Solana Foundation said Samsung Pay and Samsung Wallet will both carry stablecoins on Solana’s network. Someone will send from the Samsung Wallet screen they already open for a card, a boarding pass, or an ID. Ramps on that path will turn local currency into the stablecoin and turn the stablecoin back into local currency. More markets will follow, subject to local rules.

Sui said Samsung Wallet will add the Sui network so users in the United States hold USDC on Sui and send it from the app. At the start, USDC will be the only asset the app offers on that network. SUI, the network’s own token, will stay out of Samsung Wallet. The send will be gasless, so a sender will move USDC on Sui without holding SUI, and the transfer will cost $0.00 at the network level. More markets will open after the United States.

A website payment or a tap in a store

Paying with the stablecoin online, or with a tap of an eligible Galaxy device in a store, may come later, Samsung said. A wider set of countries could follow, once each country settles its own rules. No date is set for either step.

This article is not investment advice.