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Seattle fintech to add stablecoin payouts, treasury tools, and a new wallet for cross-border users
Remitly, the Seattle-based fintech best known for helping immigrants and overseas workers send money home, is preparing to integrate stablecoins into its global payment network. The company announced Monday that it will roll out new services using blockchain-based assets pegged to traditional currencies, marking one of its biggest shifts since its founding.
The plan includes a new digital wallet, stablecoin-based payouts through its international remittance network, and a redesign of its treasury operations using tokenized U.S. dollar reserves. Together, the moves represent a significant bet on stablecoins as a tool to make transfers faster, cheaper, and more resilient, particularly in emerging markets.
Expanding the global remittance model
Remitly serves customers in more than 170 countries and offers multiple delivery methods, including bank transfers, mobile wallets, and cash pickups at nearly half a million locations worldwide. For years, the firm has focused on lowering costs and improving reliability for migrants and their families, who often rely on small transfers for daily living expenses.
The company said its new initiative reflects two realities. First, customers increasingly need protection against inflation and currency volatility in their home markets. Second, blockchain infrastructure has matured enough to support large-scale consumer remittances.
By integrating stablecoins into its services, Remitly aims to address both needs: providing a way to store value that holds against depreciation while ensuring money can move quickly across borders, even during weekends and off-hours.
Remitly Wallet enters beta testing
The first product in the rollout is Remitly Wallet, a multi-currency wallet that will support both fiat and stablecoins. Currently in beta testing, it is expected to launch publicly in September.
The wallet is designed to give customers more flexibility in how they hold and spend money. Users will be able to keep funds in stablecoins as well as local currencies, then switch between them as needed. For households in countries experiencing rapid inflation, the feature could make a practical difference in preserving purchasing power.
Stablecoin payouts via Bridge partnership
Alongside the wallet, Remitly is adding stablecoin payout options to its existing remittance network through a partnership with Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure provider owned by Stripe.
Starting in select markets this September, recipients will be able to choose stablecoins as a payout option, with funds delivered directly into supported wallets. This new channel will run in parallel with Remitly’s established fiat rails, giving customers more choice in how they receive money.
Bridge confirmed the partnership on social media, highlighting the potential to extend Remitly’s reach and enhance its settlement infrastructure.
Stablecoins in treasury operations
Internally, Remitly is also moving to integrate stablecoins into its treasury systems. The company will tokenize portions of its U.S. dollar reserves, using assets like USDC to move funds across regions instantly.
Traditionally, remittance firms maintain pools of local currency in different markets to ensure payouts can be made quickly. But these pools tie up capital and add cost. By using tokenized dollars, Remitly expects to reduce reliance on pre-funded accounts, improve liquidity management, and cut settlement delays.
This change allows the firm to rebalance its holdings in real time, across time zones and outside of standard banking hours, offering more flexibility than traditional bank transfers.
Building on earlier crypto efforts
This is not Remitly’s first encounter with crypto infrastructure. In 2021, the company supported fiat off-ramps for platforms such as Coinbase and Novi, enabling users to convert digital assets into local currency. That experience gave Remitly familiarity with compliance challenges and customer demand at the edge of crypto and traditional payments.
The new plan goes further, weaving stablecoins into the firm’s core services instead of treating them as add-ons. It signals a more permanent shift, where blockchain-based settlement becomes part of everyday remittance flows.
Why stablecoins matter in remittances
The move reflects larger industry trends. According to World Bank data, global remittance fees average about 6.49%, a cost that weighs heavily on low-income families. Stablecoins could reduce these charges by lowering transaction costs and cutting out some intermediaries.
They also offer resilience in regions where banks or payment processors are unreliable. For many users, especially freelancers and small businesses, the ability to receive value in a dollar-backed token provides protection against local inflation.
Industry positioning
With this rollout, Remitly is aligning itself with the growing convergence between fintech and blockchain-based finance. While many traditional remittance firms remain cautious about digital assets, Remitly is betting that stablecoins can strengthen customer trust rather than undermine it.
By combining licensed fiat operations with blockchain rails, the company is presenting itself as both compliant and innovative. It is also moving at a moment when regulators worldwide are debating how to oversee stablecoins, from reserve requirements to cross-border use cases.
If the model proves successful, it could influence competitors and potentially reshape how global remittances are conducted in the coming years.
What comes next
The beta version of Remitly Wallet is expected to expand gradually, with more currencies and features added over time. Stablecoin payouts will begin in a limited set of countries in September, then extend to additional markets depending on demand and regulatory conditions.
On the treasury side, the company will monitor efficiency gains and liquidity improvements as it integrates tokenized reserves more deeply into its operations.
For now, Remitly is signaling confidence that stablecoins can become a permanent part of its business, not just a pilot program. For customers, that could mean faster, cheaper, and more reliable transfers.
