Samsung's seven-year Web3 long-distance run: 82 million devices connected to USDC

According to Woofun AI, Samsung Electronics America officially announced on October 7 that it will integrate the USDC stablecoin function into Samsung Wallet and open it to eligible Galaxy users in the US.

This move marks Samsung's official upgrade of its Web3 strategy from early crypto asset hosting to a comprehensive financial service portal covering stablecoin transfers and cross-border remittances. This collaboration not only introduced key ecosystem partners such as Coinbase (COIN.US), Bastion, Solana, and Sui, but also directly touched a potential device base of up to 82 million units in an attempt to integrate stablecoin payments into the everyday financial habits of ordinary users through simplified operation processes. Compared to previous marginal attempts that focused on developer tools or NFT displays, embedding fiat-linked assets directly into system-level wallets means that Samsung is trying to use its huge hardware installed capacity to build a closed loop of decentralized finance that can be completed without users managing their own private keys.

This shift from a 'tool provider' to a 'financial infrastructure operator' is not only a phased result of Samsung's seven-year Web3 exploration, but also a key step for traditional consumer electronics giants to enter the digital asset core scenario. By lowering the technical threshold, Samsung aims to solve the pain points that have long hindered large-scale adoption of crypto assets — that is, complex key management and high learning costs, thus paving the way for wider financial applications in the future.

In terms of specific product functional design, the USDC service launched this time mainly focuses on two completely different transfer scenarios, and is equipped with a differentiated fee mechanism. First, in response to the need to send USDC to an external compatible crypto wallet or exchange account, Samsung has adopted a zero-fee policy, which means that Samsung itself does not charge any transfer fees.

However, users are still responsible for the costs that may be incurred by the recipient platform, and the final confirmation speed of the transfer depends entirely on the congestion of the underlying blockchain network. The design aims to encourage users to carry out high-frequency value flows within the crypto ecosystem while maintaining compatibility with mainstream exchanges. Second, more notable is the second scenario: sending money across borders to bank accounts in more than 60 countries around the world. Under this path, payees can directly receive funds in local fiat currency without having a crypto wallet or understanding blockchain concepts. Although this feature greatly expands user boundaries and enables a seamless bridge from the crypto world to the traditional financial world, Samsung has made it clear that the service will charge a fee, and the specific rate will be adjusted dynamically according to the destination and amount of remittance. The initial supported asset is USDC, a US dollar stablecoin issued by Circle (CRCL.US), which ensures the stability and compliance of the asset value.

It is worth noting that the 82 million devices mentioned in the announcement are not the final number of active users, but rather the total number of Samsung Wallet-compatible Galaxy devices in the US. Actual use still requires strict service qualification screening and identity verification procedures.

This hierarchical functional design not only preserves the free transfer needs of native cryptographic users, but also provides convenient cross-border payment channels for traditional users, reflecting Samsung's careful consideration of balancing compliance and user experience.

According to data compiled by Woofun AI, the ecological division of labor in this collaboration is extremely clear, involving multi-party technical support and asset custody architectures. As a core service provider, Bastion is responsible for providing stablecoin account management, asset custody and fund transfer services to ensure the smooth and secure transaction process. Coinbase, on the other hand, provides secondary custody services for USDC assets through its institutional-level escrow product, Coinbase Prime Vault, which further enhances the security of funds. Samsung itself only provides front-end entry and device-side security capabilities, and does not directly touch or hold customer funds. This asset-light operating model effectively avoids regulatory risks.

In terms of underlying network support, the two major chains Solana and Sui have shown different technical advantages. The Solana Foundation emphasizes that users will enjoy USDC cross-border transfer services based on the Solana network through the familiar Samsung Wallet interface, and integrate fiat deposit and local currency conversion functions to improve transaction efficiency with its high throughput characteristics. Sui, on the other hand, focuses on promoting its Gasless Stablecoin Transfers (Internet fee-free stablecoin transfers) feature, which allows users to send USDC on the Sui network without holding SUI tokens in advance to pay network gas fees.

This innovation greatly simplifies user operations, removes technical barriers that prevent newbies from transferring funds due to lack of gas tokens, and makes the transfer experience within the Samsung Wallet interface smoother and more intuitive.

Looking back at Samsung's seven-year exploration in the Web3 field, the first phase (2019-2021) focused mainly on building private key management and hardware security capabilities. As early as 2019, Samsung launched the Blockchain Platform SDK around the Galaxy S10 series, which provides developers with a toolkit for integrating blockchain functionality into mobile apps. It also has built-in Keystore private key protection, which allows users to manage cryptographic assets and access decentralized applications through mobile phones.

The core goal of this phase is to establish a secure trust foundation at the hardware level, mainly serving early adopters who already have experience using blockchain. In 2021, Samsung Blockchain Wallet further expanded its compatibility, adding support for external hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano S and Nano X, enabling users to view and manage cryptographic assets connected to hardware wallets through Galaxy devices.

The product logic of this period was clear, that is, by strengthening private key protection and asset management functions, Samsung's position as a secure encrypted asset storage terminal was consolidated, and the technical foundation was laid for more complex financial applications in the future.

Entering the second phase (2022 - 2025), Samsung's strategic focus is shifting to wallet integration and testing the NFT ecosystem in an attempt to integrate cryptographic functionality into the broader consumer electronics scene. In 2022, Samsung launched Samsung Wallet, which centrally and uniformly manages functions such as payment cards, membership cards, passwords, and digital keys. Initially, its cryptoasset-related functions only included centrally checking the value of positions on some exchanges.

In the same year, Samsung collaborated with Nifty Gateway to provide NFT browsing, purchasing, trading, and display capabilities for some TV products in the TV sector. Although Nifty Gateway officially announced its closure in February 2026, this reflected Samsung's early exploration of digital collectibles display. In the Galaxy ecosystem, Samsung and Theta Labs signed a letter of intent to allow Galaxy NFT holders to obtain offline benefits such as discounts and points through certification, focusing on connecting digital souvenirs with physical consumer rights.

By 2025, the cooperation between Samsung and Coinbase was further deepened. In July, the two sides announced that Samsung Pay would be connected to the Coinbase app to facilitate users to purchase crypto assets or recharge; in October, Samsung also provided Coinbase One membership benefits to eligible Samsung Wallet users. These measures show that Samsung is gradually expanding from simple asset management to transaction payment portals, and has accumulated valuable partnerships and user data for the full launch of stablecoin financial services in 2026.

In terms of infrastructure layout, Samsung affiliates went deep into the core area of digital assets through equity investment and clarified previous disputes over Open USD (OUSD) participation. In May 2026, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Card decided to jointly acquire 4% of the shares of Dunamu, the operator of the Korean crypto exchange Upbit, with a total investment of 612.8 billion won (approximately US$457 million), of which Samsung Securities accounts for 2%, and Samsung SDS and Samsung Credit Card each account for 1%. Samsung SDS stated in the second quarter results statement that it will combine its IT services, cloud computing and security capabilities with Dunamu's blockchain technology to expand the digital asset infrastructure market, and disclosed that it has passed the tokenized securities platform project of the Korea Securities Depository and verified the entire stablecoin process from issuance to settlement with Korean financial institutions, and has accumulated relevant technical capabilities.

However, in response to the controversy caused by the announcement of the stablecoin project Open Standard at the end of June, South Korean media Chosun Biz reported on July 3 that many companies, including Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Visa (V.US), and Mastercard (MA.US), did not conduct formal cooperation negotiations with OUSD issuers. Dunamu only received inquiries about their intention to participate, and Upbit also indicated to Cointelegraph that it was not participating in the issuance It only expresses the intention to consider participating in the expansion of the OpenStandard ecosystem in the future.

This clarification shows that Samsung is cautious about investing in infrastructure, preferring to accumulate capabilities through equity cooperation and technical verification rather than blindly participating in unproven stablecoin projects.

In summary, Samsung's Web3 strategy has evolved from an early exploration of cryptographic features to an everyday financial tool with Samsung Wallet as the core, covering 82 million devices. By introducing USDC stablecoin transfers and cross-border remittance services, Samsung successfully encapsulated complex blockchain technology under a simple user interface, lowering the usage threshold for ordinary users.

This transformation not only reflects Samsung's deep accumulation in the digital asset field, but also shows its determination to use the advantages of the huge hardware ecosystem to promote the popularization of stablecoins from geek toys to popular financial instruments. In the future, with the potential increase in online shopping and offline stablecoin payment capabilities, Samsung Wallet is expected to become a key bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance, redefining the core value of smartphones in the digital asset era.