Tether’s $10B Profit Spurs Western Union’s Stablecoin Move, Pressuring Ripple

Tether, with its flagship stablecoin USDT, has already made $10 billion in profit this year. Financial services provider Western Union is now preparing a stablecoin called USDPT, which will be painful for XRP (Ripple).

The stablecoin sector, often dismissed as boring, has gained importance since its legalization in the US. Market leader Tether (USDT) demonstrates with its quarterly results published at the beginning of the month why the stablecoin business can be profitable. Around 180 billion US dollars are now represented by USDT, and Tether guarantees a 1:1 peg to the US dollar through reserves primarily invested in US Treasury bonds. These Tether reserves reliably generate interest payments – combined with fees, Tether can thus report a good 10 billion US dollars in reserves for 2025.

This puts Tether on a level comparable to Wall Street giants like Morgan Stanley (current annual profit 2025: $12.4 billion) or Goldman Sachs ($12.5 billion). But Tether employs only around 200 people, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have tens of thousands. It’s no wonder, then, that Tether CEO Paolo Ardonio is highly satisfied with the quarterly results and hails USDT as “the greatest success story for financial inclusion in human history.” He points to the 500 million people worldwide who use USDT.

Western Union: Own stablecoin also a slap in the face for Ripple

Western Union’s strategic decision to launch its own stablecoin, USDTP, is also noteworthy. The long-established company, founded in 1851, is relying on Solana as its blockchain solution. According to a press release, USDTP is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2026. Western Union is known for organizing money transfers worldwide and has so far relied on its own (analog) network of offices and partners.

The Western Union stablecoin is intended to pave the way for the digital age, with real-time transfers at low fees being obvious advantages. Ripple originally aimed to attract financial institutions like Western Union as customers with its cryptocurrency XRP , but it almost never progressed beyond pilot projects. Due in part to price fluctuations, XRP never truly established itself as an international bridge currency, and Ripple has therefore launched its own stablecoin, RLUSD.

However, Western Union not only rejects Ripple’s offerings with USDTP, but also commits to Solana. Ripple had previously had to accept the PayPal stablecoin PYUSD, which also avoids the Ripple network XRPL.

Conclusion: Banks and financial service providers with their own stablecoins instead of Ripple

Western Union and PayPal are two examples of global companies that have launched their own stablecoins. Pioneering Tether, with its USDT, has demonstrated how seemingly “boring” stablecoins can generate outstanding returns. Ripple, once considered a pioneer, must view this development with concern.

Almost a year after its debut, Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD still hasn’t reached a market capitalization of even $1 billion and thus remains a niche product. While Tether has found its niche in the crypto industry, PayPal and Western Union bring their own customer bases to their stablecoins and can therefore expect scaling and the associated returns.

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