Samsung Wallet Adds USDC Transfers for 82 Million Galaxy Devices in the U.S.

Published October 8, 2026, 11:12 UTC. Reporting via The Block, crypto.news and The Crypto Times.

Samsung is putting stablecoins inside the wallet already on tens of millions of phones. Samsung Electronics America announced on Thursday that Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pay will support USDC transfers for cross-border remittances, with the feature going live in the last week of October across about 82 million compatible Galaxy devices in the United States.

The transfers run on Solana's infrastructure alongside Sui, with Bastion operating the licensed stablecoin accounts and Coinbase acting as sub-custodian, holding the USDC in Coinbase Prime Vault, according to the announcement. Eligible users will be able to send USDC to compatible external crypto wallets, and Samsung said it will not charge a fee on those transfers, though recipient wallets or exchanges may impose their own.

The 82 million device rollout

The headline number counts compatible devices, not people who will activate the service. Users must be U.S. residents aged 18 or older, run Android 13 or later on an eligible Galaxy device, and complete identity verification before sending, according to the announcement reported by crypto.news. Transfers are authenticated with biometrics and require no private-key management, the company said.

The service is built directly into Samsung Wallet, with fiat on- and off-ramps, rather than arriving as a separate crypto app. Alongside wallet-to-wallet transfers, users will be able to send money to eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries, where recipients receive the funds in their local currency without needing to hold USDC or install a crypto wallet. Samsung said fees on that bank-payout path could vary by destination and amount.

Who does what behind the scenes

The plumbing has four named partners. Bastion, a licensed U.S. stablecoin custodian with a New York trust charter backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, operates the accounts and supplies the payment infrastructure. Coinbase sits beneath it as sub-custodian: Bastion entrusts the USDC itself to Coinbase, which stores it in Prime Vault, Alec Lovett, Coinbase's head of infrastructure products, wrote in a company blog post Wednesday. Solana and Sui are named as the blockchain infrastructure partners running the transfers behind the scenes.

Kevin Lehtiniitty, CEO of Borderless.xyz, told Cointelegraph his company's network will handle the payouts across the more than 60 countries, with Bastion providing the regulated infrastructure. "Mass adoption was never going to come from people downloading crypto apps. It comes from the phone already in your pocket," he said.

From Galaxy Unpacked tease to launch

The announcement is the fulfillment of a July tease. Samsung first said it would bring native stablecoin support to Samsung Wallet during its Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22, when product manager Lee Dinham pitched stablecoins as a way to make Samsung Wallet the foundation of a connected financial ecosystem, without naming the coins, partners or timeline.

Samsung called the feature the next chapter of its collaboration with Coinbase. Last year the two companies expanded their partnership so U.S. Galaxy users could fund their Coinbase accounts directly with Samsung Pay.

"Sending money abroad should feel as convenient as using the wallet already on your phone," said Woncheol Chai, executive vice president and head of Samsung's digital wallet team. "We're bringing USDC transfers into Samsung Wallet so eligible Galaxy users can get started without installing another app or managing private keys themselves."

Samsung said future features could include online and in-store stablecoin payments, with expansion beyond the U.S. subject to local regulatory requirements.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• The Block, Samsung to launch USDC transfers on Solana for US Galaxy users (Oct. 7, 2026), primary source
• crypto.news, Samsung Wallet to introduce USDC transfers across 82 million US Galaxy devices (Oct. 8, 2026)
• The Crypto Times, Samsung Brings USDC to Galaxy Wallet With Coinbase, Solana & Sui (Oct. 8, 2026)