Coinbase announced this on 8 October 2026. Its 2 November 2026 recap still describes USDC as coming to Samsung Wallet, so check availability in the app.
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At a glance
- What changed
- Samsung Wallet adds a USDC stablecoin balance, with USDC as the default dollar stablecoin when users top up.
- Who it affects
- Samsung Wallet users in the United States.
- When
- Announced on 8 October 2026; rollout set to start in the last week of October 2026.
What Coinbase announced
Samsung Wallet is getting a stablecoin balance for Galaxy owners in the United States, and USDC will be the first coin it supports. Coinbase put it simply in a post on its official X account on 8 October 2026: USDC will be added to Samsung Wallet as the first supported stablecoin, powered by Coinbase, and is available soon in the US.
The Coinbase blog post published the same day adds the timing. Coinbase, working alongside a licensed partner, will power the stablecoin experience in Samsung Wallet starting in the last week of October 2026, in the US market only. When a Samsung Wallet user tops up their stablecoin balance, USDC appears automatically as the default dollar stablecoin, so there is no separate coin to pick.
Who holds the money
Samsung Wallet users will not hold the USDC in a wallet of their own with private keys. The service runs on a framework built with Bastion, which Coinbase describes as a licensed stablecoin custodian and infrastructure provider overseen by US financial regulators. Coinbase acts as subcustodian for the licensed provider and keeps the USDC through Coinbase Prime, its institutional platform, using what it calls NYDFS-qualified custody services.
In practice, that means two regulated companies stand behind the balance you see in the app, which is a very different setup from a self-custody wallet where you alone control the keys.
Why Coinbase is doing this
Coinbase frames the deal as the next step in a longer partnership. It earlier added Samsung Pay as a way to buy crypto in the Coinbase app, and later offered Coinbase One benefits inside Samsung Wallet to more than 82 million Galaxy users in the US.
It also points to USDC's growth. Coinbase says USDC is designed to be redeemable one to one for US dollars, is backed by cash and short-dated US Treasuries with monthly attestations, grew 72% in circulation in 2025 to more than $75 billion, and saw the number of wallets holding it rise 59% to nearly 7 million.
Rollout status
Coinbase has not posted a confirmation that the feature is now available to everyone. Its monthly recap, posted on 2 November 2026, still says USDC is coming to Samsung Wallet, initially in the US. If you have a Galaxy phone in the US, check Samsung Wallet itself rather than assuming the feature is already switched on for your account.
Our take
This puts USDC inside a wallet app that millions of people already carry, with regulated custodians holding the coins so users never handle private keys. The trade-off is that it is custodial and US-only for now. If you are outside the US, or want to hold and send USDC yourself today, the Base app and Phantom both support USDC and are linked on this page; check which network a recipient uses before sending.
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