US banks that fought privately issued stablecoins are now preparing their own. Three separate announcements in the last week of August 2026 point the same way: a multibank stablecoin consortium, a possible token at JPMorgan, and a blockchain network backed by 39 state banking associations. The common trigger is the GENIUS Act, which takes full effect in January 2027.
More than a dozen institutions, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Santander, are advancing a joint stablecoin, The Wall Street Journal reported. The group would start with a US dollar token and could later add the euro and other G7 currencies. The target uses are corporate: treasury management, cross-border settlement, and programmable payments.
JPMorgan weighs a stablecoin alongside JPM Coin
JPMorgan has also discussed issuing a stablecoin. Publicly, it says it has no plans to issue one, and a spokeswoman said the bank could review its options as client demand and regulation evolve. JPMorgan already runs JPM Coin, which belongs to a different category of instrument and would sit alongside any new token.
| Tokenized deposit | Payment stablecoin | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A deposit on a bank’s balance sheet, in token form | A liability of an issuer, backed by reserve assets |
| Where it moves | Between customers of one bank, or within a closed group of banks | Between wallets, apps and blockchains, with no prior relationship |
| US framework | Existing banking law | GENIUS Act, permitted issuer status |
| Interest to the holder | The underlying deposit can pay interest | Prohibited |
The difference is reach. A tokenized deposit stays tied to money held at a specific bank, and it can only travel as far as the circle of institutions that accept it. A stablecoin moves across wallets, apps, exchanges and blockchains, whether or not the two parties share a bank. A bank that weighs both is serving two separate needs: settlement among members, and open circulation.
State associations form the BankChain Alliance
On August 25, 2026, 39 state banking associations announced the BankChain Alliance, an industry-owned blockchain network for tokenized deposits, bank-issued stablecoins and programmable payments. It is targeting a 2027 launch.
Kathy Kraninger, CEO of the Florida Bankers Association and former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is interim chair. The alliance has not yet chosen a technology partner, a decision that will largely determine how well the network connects with existing blockchains. It plans to invite banks across the country to take ownership stakes.
The GENIUS Act sets the timetable
The timing is no coincidence. The GENIUS Act restricts payment stablecoin issuance to permitted payment stablecoin issuers and bans paying interest to holders. The law takes full effect in January 2027.
What banks want to prevent is deposit flight. A company that moves its operating cash into a third-party token drains funding from the bank’s balance sheet and takes away the payment flows that feed the bank’s other revenue. Both projects aim to keep those flows, and the collateral behind them, inside the regulated system.
Card networks pitch themselves as the plumbing
The card networks, meanwhile, are positioning themselves as infrastructure providers. On August 26, 2026, South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group signed an agreement with Visa to test stablecoin issuance, transfer and redemption on the network’s platform, and to design a business model for the Korean market. The partners plan to trial stablecoins in card payment settlement as well as in B2B and B2C payments.
For banks, the open question is no longer permission, which the GENIUS Act settled, or technology, which several vendors already sell. It is distribution: who controls the wallet that holds the token, and which app initiates the payment. A stablecoin issued by a bank consortium but held in a nonbank app does not bring deposits back onto its issuers’ balance sheets.