Solana launches new developer platform with Mastercard, Western Union

The Solana Foundation is looking to bolster the Solana network with a new developer platform targeted for institutional adoption.

An announcement on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, revealed that the new platform will boost global giants like Mastercard and Western Union as early adopters, with this move coming as blockchain projects eye developer traction despite broader market price pressure.

This pressure currently sees the SOL token trade below $100, but analysts are bullish long term.

Solana Foundation eyes institutional adoption with new platform

The Solana Foundation has unveiled the Solana Developer Platform (SDP), a project it says offers an AI-ready toolkit designed to streamline enterprise development on the Solana blockchain.

According to details, SDP consolidates top-tier ecosystem infrastructure into a unified API-driven interface.

This model allows financial institutions to launch compliant, scalable products efficiently, the SF noted.

The goal is to push Solana into further mainstream institutional adoption, with SDP designed to address longstanding barriers like technical complexity and regulatory hurdles.

At its core, SDP will feature three API modules tailored for real-world finance.

There’s the issuance module that supports tokenized deposits, GENIUS-compliant stablecoins, and real-world assets (RWAs).

The second one is a payments module meant for fiat-stablecoin orchestration, including on-ramps, off-ramps, and on-chain transactions for B2B, B2C, and P2P scenarios.

Meanwhile, the trading module will enable atomic swaps, vaults, and on-chain FX.

With issuance and payments live now on the Solana devnet sandbox, enterprises can prototype institutional-grade solutions rapidly, the Solana Foundation explained.

Catherine Gu, head of product for digital assets at the Solana Foundation, said:

“Solana Developer Platform provides an easy gateway for any financial institution to build on Solana from day one. It is entirely API-based, removing the technical and operational barriers that enterprise developers may encounter.”

Mastercard, Western Union early SDP users

According to the announcement, some of the major players in the financial space are already onboarded. They include Mastercard, Western Union and Worldpay.

Mastercard will leverage SDP for stablecoin settlement, blending blockchain speed with its global network.

On the other hand, Western Union plans to tap SDP’s payments module for cross-border flows, while Worldpay is focusing on merchant payments via issuance and payments modules.

The company eyes on-chain settlement and tokenized assets.

“The next phase of digital asset innovation will be defined by practical use cases that integrate seamlessly with existing financial systems. As an early user of Solana Developer Platform, we’re helping enable direct stablecoin settlement for customers on select blockchain networks — beginning with Solana,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, blockchain & digital assets at Mastercard.

As well as these companies, Solana has partnered with key ecosystem players, including Alchemy, Helius, Anchorage Digital, BitGo, and Coinbase.

Others are blockchain compliance firms Chainalysis, Elliptic, and TRM.