TL;DR
- Twenty-one financial institutions plan to form a stablecoin issuer in the second half of 2026, bringing together major global banks and asset managers.
- The venture will initially launch a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, with a euro-denominated token prioritized for later expansion.
- The group aims to comply with the GENIUS Act and MiCA, entering a $303 billion market dominated by USDT and USDC.
A coalition of 21 major financial institutions plans to establish a new company dedicated to issuing stablecoins for payments and digital-asset settlement, bringing together banks and asset managers across several regions. Participants include Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Santander, Fidelity Investments, MUFG Bank and Standard Bank. The remarkable feature is the breadth of traditional finance backing a shared stablecoin issuer rather than separate bank-specific projects. The unnamed company is expected to be formed in the second half of 2026, subject to closing conditions.
Global Banks Target A Multi-Currency Stablecoin Network
The venture plans to begin with a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin and bring the product to market during the first half of 2027. It then intends to expand into tokens linked to other Group of Seven currencies, with a euro-denominated stablecoin identified as a priority. The strategy starts with the dollar but clearly aims at a multi-currency stablecoin network designed for institutional payments and digital-asset transactions. The project originated from an October 2025 initiative in which 10 banks explored a digital payment asset backed one-for-one by reserves and available on public blockchains.
The regulatory design is equally central to the plan. The group says the stablecoin is intended to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework where applicable. That approach signals an effort to build the issuer around major regulatory regimes from the beginning rather than retrofit compliance after launch. The participating institutions now span North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa, giving the venture a cross-regional foundation that could support expansion if the initial dollar token reaches market as planned in 2027.
The project arrives as stablecoins continue gaining scale. The sector’s total market capitalization has risen from roughly $200 billion at the beginning of last year to about $303 billion, while U.S. dollar-backed tokens dominate the category. Tether’s USDT represents around 60% of the market and USDC more than 20%. The new venture therefore enters a large but highly concentrated market already controlled by established dollar stablecoins. Its distinguishing feature may be the collective support of 21 major institutions, but the company still needs to be formed and its first token brought successfully to market before its coalition can test whether institutional distribution can challenge incumbent issuers at meaningful scale.
