21 major financial firms plan joint US dollar stablecoin for 2027 launch

Banks and asset managers announce stablecoin venture

Twenty-one financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Deutsche Bank, said on Tuesday they will form a company in the second half of 2026 to issue a US dollar stablecoin. A stablecoin is a digital currency designed to hold a steady value, typically tied to a traditional asset like the US dollar. The group aims to launch the stablecoin in the first half of 2027, with plans to later expand into other major currencies, starting with the euro.

Key details

• Eight of the firms were part of an earlier group of ten banks that announced in October 2025 they were exploring a similar idea.
• The new group includes 13 additional firms, such as Capital One, Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, BBVA, and Standard Bank.
• Three of the 21 firms are not banks: Fidelity Investments, WisdomTree, and Sirius International Holding.
• The stablecoin will target wholesale, institutional, and retail markets for cross-border payments and digital asset settlement.
• The venture intends to comply with the US GENIUS Act and the EU’s MiCA regulation, though final rules for the GENIUS Act are not yet in place.

Market context

The stablecoin market is currently dominated by two issuers, Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), which together control about 83% of the total supply. The total circulating supply of stablecoins is around $310.4 billion, according to DefiLlama.

Six of the 21 firms are also involved in a competing bank-led project, The Clearing House’s shared tokenized deposit network, which is also targeting a first-half 2027 launch. Tokenized deposits are digital representations of bank liabilities, while stablecoins are separate instruments backed by reserved assets.

What is still unclear

The announcement did not provide the name of the new company, its ownership structure, leadership, the blockchain it will use, or details about its custodian or reserve manager.

Sources

• The Defiant
• PR Newswire (official press release)
• DefiLlama (stablecoin market data)
• OCC (GENIUS Act details)