- Western Union submitted trademark applications for three products on October 18.
- It formed a partnership with Ripple in 2015 to settle remittance payments.
According to trademark applications that Western Union submitted last week, the company may soon begin offering services related to cryptocurrencies. It’s the latest in a series of attempts by the company to break into the cryptocurrency market.
Western Union submitted trademark applications for three products on October 18. Mike Kondoudis, an attorney specializing in trademark law, claims that the applications cover things like wallet management, the trading of digital assets and commodities derivatives, the issuance of tokens of value, and brokerage and insurance services.
Already Competitive Market
Western Union, a leading provider of international money transfers, has long demonstrated both interest in and skepticism of cryptocurrencies. Although it formed a partnership with Ripple in 2015 to settle remittance payments, that collaboration is still in its testing phase, and Western Union has stated that it will not be supporting cryptocurrency transfers in the near future.
A lot of new players are entering the remittance market. With the launch of its service in February, Coinbase aimed to capture the second-largest remittance market in the world: Mexico. The traditional remittance providers in Mexico now have competition from a number of new companies that have entered the market this year and from a variety of financial inclusion solutions.
Western Union may soon issue its own token and position itself as a cryptocurrency market leader by providing services beyond just remittances, such as an exchange for digital assets and insurance. Western Union is still a new entrant in an already competitive market, where established players like PayPal and Mastercard have established themselves.
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