Samsung will soon allow eligible Galaxy users in the United States to send USDC, the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, across borders directly from their phones, with transfers running on the Solana blockchain. The feature will be built into both Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pay.

The South Korean technology company announced the plan in a statement published on Thursday. The service is scheduled to launch in the last week of October and will be available across approximately 82 million Galaxy devices in the U.S.

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to hold a steady value against a reference asset, and USDC's peg to the U.S. dollar is what makes it suitable for payments rather than trading. Samsung is pointing that design at cross-border transfers, a flow where traditional bank payments can involve multiple intermediaries, multi-day settlement windows, and layered fees.

How the USDC Feature Works

Samsung said the feature is integrated directly into Samsung Wallet, meaning users will not need to download a separate cryptocurrency application. The wallet will include built-in fiat on-ramps and off-ramps, allowing users to move between regular U.S. dollars and USDC inside the same app.

Users will also be able to send USDC to compatible external wallets. Solana and Sui infrastructure will operate behind the scenes, and the system also works with Bastion, a licensed stablecoin custodian based in the United States.

That arrangement keeps the blockchain plumbing out of the user's hands entirely: the partners manage custody and key infrastructure, while the app presents what looks like an ordinary money-sending flow. The distinction matters, because it places a public blockchain network inside software that ships by default on tens of millions of phones, rather than behind a crypto-specific account that users must set up and secure themselves.

"Sending money abroad should feel as convenient as using the wallet already on your phone," said Woncheol Chai, executive vice president and head of the digital wallet team at Samsung Electronics. Chai added that eligible users can get started "without installing another app or managing private keys themselves."

According to Samsung, the company itself will not charge a fee for the transfers. Recipient wallets or exchanges may still impose their own charges, and transfer speed will depend on network conditions at the time of each transaction.

In addition to wallet-to-wallet transfers, the wallet will support transfers to eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries. Funds will arrive in the recipient's local currency, although fees may vary depending on the destination.

Samsung and Coinbase Expand Partnership

Samsung characterized the new feature as the "next chapter" of its work with Coinbase. Last year, the two companies expanded their partnership so that U.S. Galaxy users could fund their Coinbase accounts using Samsung Pay.

Alec Lovett, Coinbase's head of infrastructure products, said in a blog post published on Wednesday that Coinbase will custody the USDC held in Samsung Wallet through Coinbase Prime, the exchange's institutional custody platform. Lovett described the launch as a "distribution milestone for USDC," pointing to Samsung's global reach. The deal ties together a phone maker with default access to its device base, a dollar-pegged token reaching consumers through a preinstalled app, and a blockchain network extending beyond crypto-native applications.

Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, said the feature "puts digital dollars into everyday life."

"This level of adoption is what we built Solana for, and we're seeing the moment when stablecoins stop being a crypto product and start being how people move money," Liu said.

Samsung added that it plans to bring the service to additional markets in the future, though any such expansion will depend on local regulatory requirements. The late-October U.S. launch, the total fee picture once recipient-side charges come into play, and the pace of any expansion beyond the U.S. are the concrete checkpoints ahead.

Source: Blockonomi