U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States, has completed a live cross-border payment utilizing its proprietary USBDC stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain. The pilot successfully moved funds between U.S. Bank entities located in North America and Europe, with USBDC issued and transferred directly on the public Stellar network.
During the test, the bank evaluated the stablecoin’s minting, redemption, freezing, and clawback functions while integrating the activity with its existing risk, compliance, and operations systems. According to the institution, the transaction validated its internally developed Digital Asset Platform, which links tokenized assets to traditional banking infrastructure. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based bank is now exploring additional applications, such as cross-border treasury operations, liquidity management, and moving collateral onchain.
This pilot follows previous digital asset initiatives by the bank. In October 2025, U.S. Bank established a dedicated Digital Assets and Money Movement unit concentrating on stablecoin issuance, crypto custody, asset tokenization, and digital money movement. Additionally, the bank has been testing custom stablecoin issuance on Stellar since at least November 2025 in collaboration with PwC and the Stellar Development Foundation.
U.S. Bank's initiative comes amid a broader push into stablecoins by major financial institutions. While American banks have resisted allowing third-party stablecoin issuers and crypto platforms to offer yields or rewards, several large lenders are actively developing their own proprietary projects.
