The report argues that stablecoins running on fast, low-cost blockchain networks such as Solana could make cross-border settlement faster and more flexible.
Traditional Remittances Still Face High Costs
International money transfers remain expensive in many markets.
The Solana Foundation report states that a typical $200 remittance costs an average of 6.49% and can take between three and five days to settle.
For money-transfer companies, the challenge extends beyond transaction fees. Traditional payment systems often require businesses to maintain prefunded liquidity in different countries and currencies so recipients can receive funds locally.
Stablecoins introduce another model.
Instead of moving money through multiple correspondent banking layers, a company can use blockchain infrastructure to transfer and settle dollar-denominated value onchain while maintaining local partners for currency conversion and cash distribution.
That could reduce settlement friction while allowing existing payment providers to retain their local infrastructure.
Stablecoins Could Expand Financial Access
The opportunity is not limited to faster transfers.
The Solana Foundation estimates that approximately 1.3 billion adults remain unbanked, while a significant portion have access to smartphones.
That creates a potential opening for stablecoin wallets to become more than simple remittance accounts.
Recipients could potentially use digital-dollar balances for payments, savings and access to additional financial products, depending on local regulations and available infrastructure.
The combination of smartphones, stablecoins and blockchain wallets could therefore create new financial access points in markets where traditional banking services remain limited.
Solana's Remittance Ecosystem Is Already Growing
Several companies are already building components of a stablecoin-based payment ecosystem around Solana.
Western Union launched its USDPT stablecoin on Solana in May. USDPT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank and is designed to provide a regulated digital-dollar settlement layer within Western Union's global payments infrastructure.
Western Union later launched Stablecard, allowing users to hold USDPT and spend or withdraw funds through a Visa-backed product. The company says USDPT is issued on Solana and backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars.
The Solana Foundation's remittance report also highlights Zepz, the company behind WorldRemit and Sendwave, which launched Sendwave Wallet for recipients across more than 100 countries.
Meanwhile, Tala deployed a $50 million tokenized lending facility with Huma Finance, while Yellow Card, Flutterwave, Bitso, Trace Finance and Sphere Pay provide infrastructure supporting local conversion and payment flows.
Together, these developments show that Solana's payments strategy is increasingly focused on connecting blockchain settlement with existing financial businesses.
Four Paths for Money-Transfer Companies
The Solana Foundation report outlines four potential entry paths for money-transfer operators and fintech companies.
The options range from relatively low-risk treasury optimization to launching a complete stablecoin-based payments platform.
This allows companies to adopt blockchain infrastructure incrementally rather than rebuilding their entire payment systems at once.
The report also provides detailed analysis of several major remittance corridors, including:
United States–Mexico
Brazil
Nigeria
Philippines
India
Each market has different regulatory requirements, banking relationships, liquidity conditions and local payout infrastructure.
That distinction is important because blockchain settlement alone cannot solve every part of the remittance process.
The Final-Mile Challenge Remains
Stablecoins can potentially improve the movement of digital dollars, but recipients still need a way to convert those assets into local currency or spend them directly.
That means local liquidity, off-ramps, compliance, banking relationships and consumer access remain critical.
Solana's growing ecosystem is addressing some of these requirements.
For example, MoneyGram introduced MoneyGram Ramps, which connects Solana applications with its network of nearly 500,000 cash locations across more than 170 countries.
This type of infrastructure could become increasingly important as stablecoin remittances move from experimentation into production.
Visa Also Expands Stablecoin Infrastructure
Solana's payments opportunity is developing alongside a broader shift among major financial companies.
Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement program to additional blockchains and said its pilot had reached a $7 billion annualized settlement run rate in April 2026.
Visa has also continued developing infrastructure for institutional stablecoin operations, including wallets, on- and off-ramps and settlement tools.
The company has previously identified Solana's throughput and low transaction costs as reasons the network could support mainstream payment flows.
This gives Solana an important position as traditional payment companies increasingly experiment with blockchain settlement.
Why Remittances Matter for SOL
The remittance opportunity could strengthen Solana's long-term utility if payment companies begin processing significant volumes through the network.
Unlike speculative trading, remittances represent recurring economic activity.
Everyday transfers between workers, families and businesses could generate consistent demand for blockchain settlement infrastructure.
However, this does not mean remittance growth automatically translates into a higher SOL price.
Much of the activity can occur through stablecoins, while businesses may abstract away blockchain complexity from end users.
The more important long-term question is whether Solana becomes a widely used settlement layer for financial applications.
Solana's Payments Strategy Is Expanding
The remittance report fits into a much broader Solana payments strategy.
The network has recently introduced payment channels designed to support up to 1 million payments per second, targeting high-frequency payment use cases including AI-agent transactions.
Solana's August ecosystem report also highlighted growing stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and real-world financial infrastructure.
The network's combination of fast settlement, low transaction costs and expanding institutional partnerships is increasingly positioning it as a blockchain designed not only for crypto markets but also for onchain financial infrastructure.
Key Risks for Solana's Remittance Push
Despite the opportunity, several challenges remain.
Regulatory requirements vary significantly between countries, while stablecoin issuers and payment companies must comply with anti-money-laundering and customer-identification rules.
Liquidity is another challenge. A blockchain can settle a stablecoin instantly, but recipients still need reliable ways to convert that asset into local currency.
Consumer adoption will also determine whether stablecoin remittances can move beyond institutional infrastructure and become mainstream.
Solana therefore needs more than fast transactions. It needs a complete ecosystem connecting stablecoins, wallets, exchanges, payment providers, banks and local cash networks.
Conclusion
Solana's stablecoin strategy is moving deeper into one of the world's largest financial markets.
With approximately $905 billion sent home through remittances each year, even a small shift toward blockchain-based settlement could represent significant economic activity.
The Solana Foundation's latest report highlights how stablecoins can potentially reduce settlement times and costs while giving money-transfer companies new ways to manage liquidity and reach underserved users.
Western Union, MoneyGram, Zepz and other companies are already building pieces of this infrastructure around Solana, while Visa's expanding stablecoin initiatives show that blockchain-based settlement is gaining attention across traditional finance.
For Solana, the opportunity extends beyond transaction volume. If the network becomes a trusted settlement layer for global remittances, stablecoin payments could become one of the strongest real-world use cases supporting its long-term ecosystem growth.
