Twenty-one financial institutions announced on 1 September 2026 that they will set up a joint company to issue a stablecoin backed by the dollar. The group brings together commercial banks, investment banks and asset managers across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The company is to be incorporated in the second half of 2026, with the token reaching the market in the first half of 2027.
One token for three uses
The announced stablecoin is denominated in dollars and is meant to run on public chains. The stated uses cover wholesale, institutional and retail payments, as well as digital asset settlement. A second token is planned later, pegged to another G7 currency, with the euro named as the priority for that phase.
| Region | Institutions |
|---|---|
| North America | Bank of America, Capital One, Citi, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, PNC Financial Services, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Wells Fargo, WisdomTree |
| Europe | Banco Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank, UBS |
| East Asia | MUFG Bank |
| Middle East | Sirius International Holding |
| Africa | Standard Bank |
From an intention to a company
The project does not start with this announcement. A first circle of ten banks had been working on it since October 2025, and the US banking industry had organised its answer to the GENIUS Act during the last week of August. What changes here rests on three things: the group widens to twenty-one institutions and reaches outside the United States, a legal entity is announced, and a market window is dated.
Two frameworks, not one
The venture says it will comply with the US GENIUS Act, enacted on 18 July 2025, which opens stablecoin issuance to banks through subsidiaries approved by the OCC. It also says it will comply with the European MiCA regulation. The two texts set different requirements on reserves, on issuer authorisation and on the right to redeem, which calls for either a single structure that satisfies both or two separate vehicles. Neither option has been described.
What is not decided
- The name of the company and of the token
- The public chains it will run on
- Who custodies the reserves, and what they hold
- The governance of the joint entity
- The final redemption terms
- How tokens are held: directly by the user, or through a participating bank
JPMorgan stays out
JPMorgan is not among the twenty-one and is pursuing its own route with the JPM Coin infrastructure. The split separates two models: a shared token, carried by a joint company and meant to move between institutions, and a proprietary instrument whose issuer alone controls issuance, distribution and access rules.
The announced timetable puts the market launch after the OCC framework takes effect on 18 January 2027. The order of those two dates carries information: the token is meant to arrive inside a framework that already applies, rather than ahead of it.