A consortium of 21 global financial institutions plans to establish a new company in the second half of 2026 to issue a USD stablecoin, with launch targeted for the first half of 2027.
The group has expanded from 10 firms announced in October to include major banks across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. North American members include Bank of America, Capital One, Citigroup, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, PNC Financial Services, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Wells Fargo and WisdomTree. European participants are Banco Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank and UBS. The consortium also includes MUFG Bank in East Asia, Sirius International Holding in the Middle East and Standard Bank in Africa.
The stablecoin will be reserve-backed at a 1:1 ratio and deployed on public blockchains for wholesale, institutional and retail use, including cross-border payments and digital asset settlements. The venture plans to issue other G7 currency stablecoins following the initial USD offering.
The initiative follows regulatory developments including the GENIUS Act and the EU's MiCA compliance framework, which have prompted financial institutions to develop regulated stablecoin alternatives. The project will compete with existing crypto-native stablecoins and other banking sector efforts, including separate initiatives from JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, PayPal and Revolut.
