Solana Teams Up with Mastercard and Western Union for Revolutionary Developer Platform!

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Solana foundation debuts developer platform with Mastercard and Western Union

Solana has introduced a new platform designed for developers at large institutions, and major companies like Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay are already using it to build stablecoin and payment solutions.

Summary

  • The Solana Foundation launched the Solana Developer Platform (SDP) on March 24, a unified API-based platform targeting institutions and enterprises building tokenized assets, stablecoins, and payment flows on Solana.
  • Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay have signed on as first adopters, with use cases spanning stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments, and merchant settlement.
  • The platform launches as Solana processed a record $650 billion in stablecoin volume in February 2026, surpassing both Ethereum and Tron to become the leading chain for stablecoin activity.

On March 24th, the Solana Foundation introduced the Solana Developer Platform, a comprehensive system that lets banks and businesses easily create services like tokenized savings accounts, stablecoins, and real-world payment systems directly on the Solana blockchain. Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay are among the first organizations to start using the new platform.

Solana is gaining traction as a platform for payments. In February 2026, it reached a new high, processing $650 billion in stablecoin transactions – more than double its previous record. This put Solana ahead of Ethereum and Tron, making it the leader in the $1.8 trillion global stablecoin market. The overall stablecoin market is currently valued at around $328 billion, according to rwa.xyz.

Solana – A Platform Built for Institutional Scale

The Secure Digital Platform (SDP) is built on three main parts: issuing digital assets, processing payments, and enabling trading. The issuing and payment features are available now, letting institutions create tokenized deposits, GENIUS-compliant stablecoins, and tokens representing real-world assets. These features also handle the movement of both traditional and digital currencies, including ways to convert between them and manage transactions on the blockchain. The trading feature, which will support direct swaps, secure storage (vaults), and blockchain-based currency exchange, is planned for release later in 2026.

To support its needs, Solana partnered with over 20 companies specializing in network infrastructure, digital wallets, regulatory compliance, and payment processing. Modern Treasury, a payments software provider, was chosen to handle Solana’s payment infrastructure. According to Matt Marcus, co-founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, Solana already processes millions of transactions each day with very fast confirmation times. Integrating Modern Treasury’s software will make this technology accessible to businesses that require robust security, dependability, and adherence to regulations from the start.

Each of the three initial partners is testing the platform in a different way. Mastercard is looking at how to use it for settling stablecoin transactions, Worldpay is focusing on processing payments for businesses, and Western Union, which has been increasingly involved with Solana since March through a partnership with Crossmint to support its USDPT stablecoin, is using it to send payments across international borders.

As a researcher following Western Union’s digital asset strategy, I’ve learned they view their integration with the Solana Developer Platform as an evolution, not a revolution, of their existing infrastructure. Malcolm Clarke, their VP of Digital Assets, explained that Solana allows them to build *on top of* their strengths – reliably moving money internationally – by adding a new, API-driven layer for both traditional and digital currencies. It’s not about replacing their current network, but rather modernizing it to enable faster innovation, explore new applications, and bring more cross-border transactions onto the blockchain in a way that’s both scalable and meets regulatory requirements.

Catherine Gu, who leads product development for digital assets at the Solana Foundation, explained that the platform makes it simple for institutions to begin development right away. She highlighted that its fully API-based structure eliminates the technical and logistical challenges that have often hindered companies from using blockchain technology.

Solana’s Institutional Moment

The recent launch of the SDP is part of a growing trend of businesses building on Solana, which is becoming a popular platform for blockchain payments. Wyoming introduced its official FRNT stablecoin on Solana in January 2026, and Backpack began offering on-chain IPO access using Solana technology in March. When this news came out, SOL was trading between $84 and $95, with $80 serving as a crucial support level.

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2026-03-24 19:20