Samsung has partnered with Stripe to enable USDC purchases for 82 million Galaxy devices in the US. The feature, now live, allows users to fund their Samsung Wallet stablecoin accounts using Samsung Pay, credit or debit cards, and ACH bank payments. The service was initially announced on October 7, with a planned rollout for late October.
Eligible users must have devices running Android 13 or later with built-in fingerprint authentication. New York residents are excluded from the service. The account opening process requires personal details such as name, address, birth date, and taxpayer identification number, with additional verification steps handled by Stripe.
Users can hold, send, and receive USDC within the wallet, with withdrawals converting the stablecoin back to dollars. Transaction fees vary by method and are displayed before confirmation. Samsung notes that Bastion provides the custodial wallet, with USDC held in Coinbase's institutional custody through Bastion's arrangement.
Samsung warns users about network compatibility when transferring USDC to external wallets, emphasizing that sending unsupported assets or using the wrong network can result in permanent loss of funds.