‘This Is 9/11 For XRP,’ Claims Solana Developer In Viral Post
Western Union has chosen Solana because the unique blockchain for its forthcoming US greenback–pegged stablecoin and a broader “Digital Asset Network,” a choice that instantly ricocheted by crypto social media and reignited long-running tribal feuds between XRP and Solana partisans. In an X put up on Tuesday, Solana’s official account declared, “It’s official: @WesternUnion, the world’s largest cash switch enterprise, is constructing completely on Solana,” pairing the declare with a launch reel that includes CEO Devin McGranahan.
Western Union’s plan facilities on a dollar-backed token— dubbed the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT)—with issuance by Anchorage Digital Bank and an preliminary rollout focused for 2026. The initiative is a part of a multi-pronged modernization effort that features on- and off-ramps to money by way of Western Union’s retail footprint and a settlement system designed to chop price and latency in cross-border flows.
McGranahan framed the transfer as a continuation of the agency’s 175-year arc of adopting new rails to attach senders and recipients: “So for 175 years, we’ve been connecting folks with know-how, and we’ve been utilizing that know-how to maneuver cash. This is the following evolution, transferring to digital property and the flexibility to maneuver cash seamlessly, cost-effectively and quickly in every single place world wide, utilizing the infrastructure and the size we have already got with fashionable blockchain know-how.”
He added: “We assume that is the following evolution, not simply in our historical past, however in how remittances occur world wide.” He added that after surveying “many of the different options,” Western Union concluded “for an institutional use case like ours, the Solana blockchain was the correct alternative for us.”
9/11 For XRP?
The company positioning—“completely on Solana,” per the Solana account—was sufficient to set off a pointy, if largely rhetorical, response cycle. Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana infrastructure supplier Helius, posted essentially the most incendiary soundbite, writing, “that is 9/11 for xrp mfers,” a line that immediately turned the day’s headline and flashpoint for the XRP group.
Beyond the viral taunt, the market-structure question raised by Western Union’s transfer is easy: does a first-party, dollar-denominated instrument operating on a high-throughput public chain obviate the necessity for a non-sovereign bridge asset like XRP in retail remittance corridors?
Community member nietzbux (@nietzbux) replied by way of X: ”Ripple partnered with Moneygram 6 years in the past and it ended after the lawsuit. Western Union issuing a single USD steady coin on Solana is a pleasant adoption, however largely a lukewarm occasion in right now’s world of mass adoption.”
He criticized Solana’s messaging for making “your PR wins about one other coin,” including “You have to actually be punching as much as make your individual PR launch about one other coin. All this has carried out is reveal the immense insecurities of SOL supporters together with their official account. Eric Trump mentioned to finish tribalism – however right here we’re, nonetheless getting hate on a reasonably mundane Western Union steady coin announcement.”
Another account Charting Guy (@ChartingGuy) tried to disentangle product classes fully: “Quite a lot of uneducated folks saying that is dangerous for XRP and invalidates its use case. Guys, stablecoins have been round a very long time lol. XRP’s use case is way completely different than stablecoins. Maybe learn up on what the xrp ledger truly does & how xrp capabilities. This means nothing.”
At press time, XRP traded at $2.629.
