Samsung is putting stablecoins in 800 million phones and the real test has not started yet

Samsung SDS names stablecoins as the first collaboration priority

The clearest statement of intent came not from Galaxy Unpacked but from a corporate earnings call five days later.

On July 30, Samsung SDS president Lee Joon hee told analysts during the company’s second quarter earnings conference call that the Dunamu investment was made “to enter the digital asset infrastructure business rather than as a financial investment.” He said Samsung SDS had been discussing stablecoin infrastructure, AI powered next generation payments, and virtual asset financial system integration with Dunamu.

These comments, reported by crypto.news on July 31, marked the first time a Samsung executive publicly identified stablecoins as the specific focus of the Dunamu partnership. The earnings call also revealed that Samsung SDS reported 17% cloud revenue growth and a 75% increase in external cloud business during the second quarter, with plans to expand AI infrastructure from 110 megawatts to more than 800 megawatts by 2031.

Samsung SDS is the Samsung Group’s information technology services arm, not a consumer electronics division. Its involvement signals that Samsung views stablecoin infrastructure as an enterprise technology opportunity, not merely a phone feature. The company’s existing capabilities in cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity could support backend systems for stablecoin issuance, custody, or settlement, though no specific product or architecture has been disclosed.

Separately, Samsung has been selective about external stablecoin ventures. Earlier in July, Samsung distanced itself from the OUSD stablecoin consortium proposed by Open Standard after being listed as one of more than 140 founding partners. A Samsung official told South Korean newspaper Chosun that the company had not held official consultations with Open Standard and did not know what role it was expected to play. Dunamu, Shinhan Bank, and K Bank also said they were still reviewing the proposal.

The regulatory window Samsung is trying to enter

Samsung’s timing is deliberate. Both the United States and South Korea are implementing or drafting stablecoin frameworks, creating a regulatory environment where early positioning carries strategic value.

In the United States, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law on July 18, 2025, after the Senate passed it 68 to 30 and the House approved it 308 to 122. The law created the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers, with a staged effective date giving existing issuers two years to become compliant. By July 2028, non compliant stablecoins can no longer be offered to United States users.

The GENIUS Act provides regulatory clarity that Samsung needs before offering stablecoin balances to American Galaxy owners. A Samsung Wallet stablecoin feature in the United States would need to work with a GENIUS Act compliant issuer, a licensed custodian, and a blockchain settlement layer that meets the law’s requirements for reserve transparency and redemption rights. The law requires payment stablecoin issuers to maintain one to one reserves in high quality liquid assets such as United States Treasury securities, insured deposits, or central bank reserves. Issuers must also publish monthly attestations of reserve composition audited by a registered accounting firm. For Samsung, these requirements mean the choice of issuer directly constrains the product design. A compliant issuer brings a clear redemption pathway and regulatory standing. A non compliant issuer would leave Samsung exposed to enforcement risk in its largest single country market.

In South Korea, the Financial Services Commission is preparing the Digital Asset Basic Act, a comprehensive framework that would bring 10 separate crypto and stablecoin bills under one legislative umbrella. The draft, unveiled in April 2026, requires stablecoin issuers to obtain authorization, maintain 100% or greater reserves in high quality assets such as bank deposits or government bonds, and ensure full redemption rights for holders. Stablecoins used in cross border or foreign exchange transactions would be classified as “means of payment” under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

Passage has stalled in the National Assembly over a central dispute: who should be authorized to issue Korean won pegged stablecoins. The Bank of Korea has pushed for a rule limiting issuance to bank led consortiums holding at least 51% ownership. Implementation is targeted for late 2026 or 2027.

The Bank for International Settlements has separately described how stablecoin assets deployed across different blockchains may not move seamlessly between them, resulting in fragmented liquidity and reliance on bridges that introduce operational risk. A Samsung implementation on one network would place that network on the default route offered through Wallet. A multichain design could expose more routes while introducing the cross network interoperability problem into the consumer experience. Samsung has disclosed neither a network selection nor a transfer architecture.

Goh of Areta described Samsung’s positioning as intentional. He believes Samsung aims “to be positioned in both dollar and won stablecoins while Korea’s framework is still being discussed.”

What Samsung gains that Apple and Google do not have

The competitive landscape offers Samsung a window, but the window is narrower than the headline suggests.

Neither Apple Pay nor Google Wallet offers native stablecoin support. Both route crypto transactions through third party partners. Apple has shown no public interest in integrating stablecoin balances into Apple Wallet, and Google Pay’s crypto features remain limited to select partner integrations.

Samsung’s advantage is specific: it controls the wallet interface, the hardware security layer through Knox, and now holds an equity position in major crypto infrastructure through Dunamu. No other smartphone manufacturer combines consumer distribution, hardware security, and exchange level infrastructure investment in a single corporate ecosystem. Google has partnered with Coinbase and BitPay for limited crypto card functionality in Google Wallet, but those integrations stop at the card layer and do not extend to native token balances. Apple has taken no public steps toward stablecoin integration and has historically maintained strict control over financial features within Apple Wallet, limiting third party crypto access to standalone apps.

The scale numbers, however, require careful reading. Industry projections put Apple Pay at 71.6 million United States proximity payment users in 2026 and Google Pay at 42.6 million, compared to 15 million for Samsung Pay. Samsung ships more phones globally, with 241 million units in 2025 according to IDC data, but its mobile payments market share in the United States remains smaller than Apple’s.

Yat Siu, executive chairman of Animoca Brands, described Samsung’s move as “a feature set rather than an attempt to build a super app.” The integration could give Samsung an advantage over Apple and Google in serving crypto users, he said, but applications and merchants will need to make stablecoins useful for everyday spending. Samsung is an investor in Animoca Brands.

Robby Yung, CEO of Investments at Animoca Brands, agreed that the move is positive for crypto adoption but was “not sure that this puts Samsung at an advantage over crypto native platforms.”

The case against Samsung as a stablecoin distributor

The bull case for Samsung’s stablecoin play rests on distribution: 800 million phones, 61 countries, a wallet already storing cards and credentials. The bear case rests on execution and on Samsung’s history with crypto features that never reached mainstream usage.

Samsung Blockchain Keystore launched in 2019. Seven years later, Samsung has not disclosed how many Galaxy owners have ever opened it. The company has not published active crypto user counts for Samsung Wallet. The Coinbase integration announced in October 2025 targeted 75 million United States Galaxy owners, but Samsung has not said how many of those owners actually activated crypto features. The gap between “available on” and “used by” is typically enormous in preinstalled mobile features.

The 800 million figure is a device target for Galaxy AI, not a stablecoin user projection. Samsung has nearly 19 million Wallet users in South Korea but has not provided a global number. If stablecoin support launches in only a subset of the 61 countries where Samsung Wallet operates, the addressable market could be substantially smaller than the headline implies.

The Coinbase precedent is instructive. Samsung announced the partnership targeting 75 million United States Galaxy owners in October 2025. Eight months later, Samsung has not disclosed activation rates, transaction volumes, or the share of those 75 million owners who engaged with any crypto feature. If past performance is any guide, default availability and actual adoption are separated by an order of magnitude.

There are also structural questions. If Samsung’s stablecoin feature works through a partner held account, the distribution benefit sits with the partner, not with Samsung. If the feature requires multiple steps to activate or fund, adoption will follow the same pattern as previous crypto features: available to many, used by few. If Samsung selects a single issuer for default placement, it risks regulatory complications in markets where that issuer is not licensed.

Ben Nadareski, CEO and co founder of Solstice, acknowledged the potential but framed the challenge precisely. The broader picture, he said, is “distribution catching up to liquidity.” For years, crypto had deep trading venues and weak paths into daily spending. Samsung Wallet points the other direction, but the path from a mockup at a product launch to a functioning stablecoin payment at a checkout terminal involves decisions Samsung has not yet made public.

The strongest counterargument to the Samsung stablecoin thesis is that the company announced a direction without a product. Every critical design choice, including which issuer backs the balance, which chain settles the transaction, who holds custody, and which markets receive the feature first, remains undisclosed. Until those decisions are public, the announcement describes potential, not capability.

What to watch

Samsung names an issuer or custody partner. The choice of stablecoin and custodian will determine whether Samsung controls the user relationship or hands it to a third party. A Circle or Tether selection would signal dollar denominated ambitions. A won pegged issuer would signal a Korea first strategy.

South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act reaches a floor vote. The stalled legislation determines whether Samsung Card and Dunamu can issue or distribute a won pegged stablecoin. If the Bank of Korea’s 51% bank ownership rule survives, Samsung would need a banking partner to participate.

Samsung discloses global Wallet user counts or crypto activation rates. The gap between phones shipped and wallets activated is the single most important metric for evaluating the distribution thesis. Without it, the 800 million figure remains a ceiling, not a forecast.

Samsung Wallet stablecoin feature enters a public beta or limited launch in any market. A beta in South Korea, the United States, or another regulated market would confirm that the product has moved from mockup to implementation. The absence of a timeline makes this the clearest indicator of execution pace.

Apple or Google announces competing stablecoin integration. If a rival smartphone ecosystem moves first, Samsung’s window advantage narrows. If neither moves, Samsung’s early positioning holds more strategic value.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. The views expressed are those of the sources cited and do not necessarily reflect those of crypto.news. Readers should conduct their own research before making any financial decisions. Published August 5, 2026.