Twenty-one of the world’s largest banks and asset managers, including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS, said on September 1, 2026 that they plan to form a joint venture to issue a US dollar stablecoin, according to CoinDesk and crypto.news. The group is targeting a market launch in the first half of 2027, with a euro token flagged as the next priority.
What happened?
The consortium announced on Tuesday, September 1, that its 21 members intend to establish a company later in 2026 to support the issuance of a shared, US dollar-denominated stablecoin, CoinDesk reported. crypto.news put the same figure at 21 institutions and described a US dollar token coming first, followed by a euro-pegged version identified as the “initial priority” among later currency offerings.
The named participants span three continents, per crypto.news. The full roster reported by the outlet:
- North America: Bank of America, Capital One, Citi, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, PNC Financial Services, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Wells Fargo and WisdomTree.
- Europe: Banco Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank and UBS.
- Asia-Pacific and Africa: MUFG Bank, Sirius International Holding and Standard Bank.
crypto.news reported that the members plan to establish a jointly owned company in the second half of 2026 to support issuance, with the US dollar token first and a euro-pegged version flagged as the “initial priority” among later G7-currency offerings.
According to crypto.news, the planned token is aimed at wholesale bank transfers, institutional settlement of digital assets and tokenized securities, and retail payments, with the consortium emphasizing “cross-border payments and settlement for digital asset transactions.” Both outlets stressed how much remains undecided: no company name, token name, blockchain network, reserve custodian or governance structure has been disclosed. The venture “intends” to comply with the US GENIUS Act and, where applicable, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules, crypto.news reported.
Why does it matter?
Stablecoins have largely been the domain of crypto-native issuers such as Tether and Circle. A bloc of systemically important banks and asset managers coordinating on a single dollar token marks a different phase, one in which incumbent finance is building infrastructure it would rather not rent from third parties. The breadth of the membership, from Goldman Sachs and Citi to European lenders like Deutsche Bank and Santander, signals that the largest institutions increasingly view tokenized dollars as core payments plumbing rather than a fringe experiment.
The timing tracks with regulation. The US GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, and MiCA already governs the product in Europe. A jointly owned, compliance-first token lets banks pool the cost and risk of building on-chain settlement while keeping the result inside the regulated perimeter. It could also concentrate market share: rather than each bank launching a rival coin, a shared standard aims for the network effects that make a stablecoin useful for settlement in the first place. For context on the wider policy backdrop, see our regulation coverage.
Competitors are unlikely to stand still. Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT dominate today’s roughly $280-billion-plus stablecoin market, and a bank-backed entrant would be aiming at their institutional flank rather than retail crypto trading. A shared token issued by household-name lenders could carry credibility with corporate treasurers and clearing desks that crypto-native issuers have had to earn over years. It could equally struggle: coordinating strategy, technology and revenue splits across 21 owners is a governance challenge that has slowed other bank consortia, and the group has not yet said how those decisions will be made.
What to watch next?
The most important unknowns are the ones the consortium has not answered: which entity will actually issue the token, which blockchain or blockchains it will run on, who will custody the reserves, and how governance will be split among 21 owners. Those choices will determine whether the project ships on its first-half-2027 timeline. Also worth tracking is whether additional banks join, how regulators in the US and EU treat a multi-bank issuer, and how the promised euro version fits alongside MiCA-authorized euro tokens already on the market. Details in this article are drawn from CoinDesk and crypto.news; where the two differ, the reporting has been noted.
Sources: CoinDesk — Citi, Goldman, other global banks and asset managers team up on stablecoin venture; crypto.news — Bank of America, Citi join 21-firm stablecoin plan
This is news reporting, not investment advice.
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Elena Petrova is a regulatory correspondent specializing in crypto law and policy with over 10 years of financial journalism experience. Formerly a finance reporter at Reuters, Elena covers SEC enforcement, MiCA implementation, and global stablecoin regulations. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law and is a member of the New York State Bar. Her regulatory analysis is frequently referenced by compliance officers and legal teams at major exchanges.
Conflicts of interest
I have no current legal practice or retainer relationships with any cryptocurrency company. Past employment relationships are listed publicly.
