Samsung Wallet Activates Solana USDC Accounts Across 82M US Devices

Samsung Wallet launched native stablecoin balances for eligible US Galaxy smartphone owners on Nov. 5, integrating Circle's $USDC on the $SOL blockchain ¹. The feature is accessible across roughly 82 million compatible devices running Android 13 or later, allowing customers to buy, hold, transfer, and receive the digital dollar asset directly within the preloaded app ¹. The rollout builds on an initial integration framework announced on Oct. 7, as detailed in our coverage of Samsung integrating Solana-based USDC transfers into Samsung Wallet ¹.

To power the service, Samsung partnered with regulated infrastructure provider Bastion and Coinbase ¹. Bastion provides custodial rails, while Coinbase Prime Vault serves as sub-custodian to safeguard user reserves ¹. Samsung stated in its user disclosures that the balances function strictly as non-bank crypto accounts rather than traditional depository accounts ¹. The system enables internal transfers between Samsung Wallet users and distributions to external Solana-compatible wallets without any platform fees assessed by Samsung ¹. Furthermore, account holders can route payouts directly to eligible bank accounts across more than 60 countries, where balances convert into local fiat currencies subject to destination-based fees ¹.

Rollout Scope and Payment Ambitions

Eligibility is limited to adult US residents outside New York, and credit card funding—including transactions processed via Samsung Pay—incurs a 4% processing fee ¹. The electronics conglomerate also attached a $25 bonus incentive for initial top-ups meeting a $50 minimum threshold ¹. Woncheol Chai, head of the digital wallet unit inside Samsung's mobile division, confirmed the architecture aims to bypass crypto operational friction by leveraging Solana's network capacity ¹. At the time of writing, SOL traded around $95.41, up 3.0% over 24 hours, while USDC maintained parity at $1.00.

Looking beyond wallet-to-wallet transfers and international remittances, Samsung announced plans to evaluate online and physical retail point-of-sale stablecoin payments ¹. The manufacturer also signaled intent to expand the stablecoin framework to overseas jurisdictions as local regulatory regimes permit ¹.