Just a day after announcing the USDPT stablecoin, Western Union quietly trademarked the WUUSD trademark with a range of uses extending from payments, foreign exchange to e-wallets and crypto trading platforms.
Western Union quietly "renamed" stablecoin to WUUSD?. Photo: cryptodnes
Western Union Enters the Stablecoin Era
- Western Union (WU) has filed to trademark “WUUSD” just one day after announcing its stablecoin USDPT - scheduled to launch in early 2026 on the Solana blockchain.
- According to a filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO ), WUUSD can be used for stablecoin payment processing services, foreign exchange trading, e-wallets, even digital asset trading platforms and crypto lending services.
- At the same time, WU affirmed that it is building a "Digital Asset Network" with the goal of creating practical applications for blockchain financial services in the near future.
- Western Union has announced that the stablecoin USDPT will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, also within the framework of a global digital asset network that helps users send, receive, spend and convert digital assets in more than 200 countries, a big step from the traditional remittance sector to Web3.
Why add WUUSD?
- According to expert Rajiv Sawhney, International Portfolio Manager at Wave Digital Assets, the appearance of two different names - USDPT and WUUSD - could be a branding strategy rather than two separate stablecoins.
“WUUSD may be a more recognizable, public trading token, while USDPT is the name used in legal documents and technical contracts,” Sawhney noted.“Western Union probably thought USDPT was a difficult name to remember, while WUUSD (Western Union USD) was both clear and easy to promote.”
- However, he admitted that there is no clear evidence yet on whether WUUSD will be issued in parallel or just a brand layer representing USDPT.
- This is similar to the strategy of other companies such as Paxos ( USDP and PYUSD ) or Binance ( BUSD and FDUSD ), when issuing many stablecoins with different legal structures but serving the same payment ecosystem.
Solana - the optimal choice for Web3 remittances
- Western Union said it chose Solana because the blockchain excels in speed and transaction costs, making it suitable for a model that processes millions of remittance transactions every day.
- This is also a step consistent with the transformation direction that Western Union announced, which is to leverage digital assets to improve operational efficiency and expand user reach.
- The fact that a company with a history of more than 170 years like Western Union chose Solana, instead of Ethereum or other enterprise networks, shows confidence in the next generation public blockchain infrastructure and the ambition to reshape how cross-border money flows.
Policy context
- Western Union's move comes as the US pushes for a number of legislative initiatives to encourage blockchain innovation, including the GENIUS Act - the legislation that is said to be the inspiration for the project.
- The GENIUS Act aims to legalize and standardize the use of digital assets in the financial sector, creating a legal corridor for traditional corporations to enter Web3 without facing too much legal risk.
- According to forecasts on the Myriad prediction platform, more than 50% of participants believe that the total stablecoin market Capital will exceed $360 billion by February next year.
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