Twenty-one financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, said on September 1, 2026, that they will set up a joint company to issue a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. The company is to be formed in the second half of 2026, subject to closing conditions, and the token is to reach the market in the first half of 2027.
The group mixes commercial banks, investment banks, and asset managers from North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Crédit Agricole is the only French member.
One token for wholesale, institutional, and retail payments
The dollar token is designed to circulate on public blockchains. The group is targeting wholesale, institutional, and retail payments, as well as settlement of digital assets. A second token pegged to another G7 currency would follow in a later phase, and the group has named the euro as the priority.
| 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 |
A 10-bank study turns into a company
The project did not start with this announcement. A first group of 10 banks had been working on it since October 2025, and the US banking industry organized its response to the GENIUS Act in the last week of August. Three things are new: the group has grown to 21 institutions and now reaches beyond the US, a legal entity has been announced, and there is a dated launch window.
The token will have to satisfy two rulebooks
The group says it intends to comply with the US GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, which lets banks issue stablecoins through subsidiaries approved by each bank’s federal regulator. It also intends to comply with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA). The two regimes set different requirements for reserves, issuer licensing, and redemption rights. That means either a single structure that meets both or two separate vehicles. The group has not said which.
Name, reserves, and governance are still undecided
- The name of the company and of the token
- Which public blockchains the token will run on
- Who will hold the reserves, and what they will consist of
- How the joint entity will be governed
- The final redemption terms
- How users will hold the token: directly in their own wallets, or through a participating bank
JPMorgan stays out and sticks with JPM Coin
JPMorgan is not among the 21 and is pursuing its own path with its JPM Coin infrastructure. The split reflects two models. One is a shared token, run by a jointly owned company and meant to circulate between institutions. The other is a proprietary instrument whose issuer alone controls issuance, distribution, and access rules.
The timetable puts the launch after the GENIUS Act takes effect, no later than January 18, 2027. The order matters: the token is meant to arrive under rules that already apply, not to get ahead of them.