Fiserv said on October 1, 2026, that its digital asset platform is live with financial institution clients, and named Bank of North Dakota’s Roughrider Coin as its first live use case. The dollar-backed coin is designed for money movement across North Dakota’s interbank network, and Fiserv says it gives more than 90 participating banks and credit unions in the state a more efficient way to conduct bank-to-bank transactions. VersaBank issues the coin, Fireblocks provides digital asset infrastructure and tokenization services, and transactions are processed on the Solana blockchain.
Participating banks and credit unions will reach the coin through Commercial Center, the commercial online banking system that Fiserv’s financial institution clients already rely on for traditional interbank money movement. Fiserv is also the state bank’s core software provider, and Bank of North Dakota says Fiserv approached it about a token deposit pilot for local institutions.
“By moving from concept to production with leading institutions, we are helping clients unlock new efficiencies in banking and payments while maintaining the trust, security and regulatory standards they expect,” said Sunil Sachdev, head of embedded finance and digital assets at Fiserv. A Fiserv spokesperson said the platform went live this week, Payments Dive reported.
Five parties stand behind one bank-to-bank coin
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Bank of North Dakota | Governance and oversight; deploys the coin across the state’s banking and payments workflows |
| Fiserv | Issuance, reserve, custody and settlement infrastructure; compliance; access through Commercial Center |
| VersaBank USA, N.A. | Issuer: minting, burning, custody and reserve asset management |
| Fireblocks | Digital asset infrastructure and tokenization services; MPC wallets for participating institutions |
| Solana | Public blockchain on which transactions are processed |
VersaBank, listed in Toronto and on Nasdaq, acts through VersaBank USA, N.A., which Bank of North Dakota describes as an OCC-chartered US bank. Its release calls Roughrider Coin “the first live use case of Fiserv’s Digital Asset platform.” David Taylor, VersaBank’s founder and president, said in Fiserv’s release that the pairing gives the industry “a trusted foundation to bring stablecoins into established banking and payment systems.”
Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the US, uses the platform’s issuance, reserve, custody and settlement infrastructure, according to Fiserv. Don Morgan, the bank’s chief executive, called the coin “a new tool to move money more efficiently across North Dakota’s interbank network.”
A permissioned token that only banks can hold
Bank of North Dakota’s program page describes Roughrider Coin as “a U.S. dollar-backed token deposit designed exclusively for bank-to-bank transactions.” It is issued as a permissioned asset, with built-in access controls, on Solana’s permissionless blockchain, which the page says was selected for its performance and token controls, including freeze and clawback functions. Every token is backed one-to-one by US dollars, with reconciliation through Fiserv and oversight from the state bank.
A token is minted only after a bank’s transfer into a designated FBO (for benefit of) account is confirmed, and it is burned automatically once it reaches the receiving institution’s wallet, a design the page says keeps token balances low. Institutions transact through Fireblocks-secured multi-party computation (MPC) wallets, while Fiserv runs Travel Rule enforcement, AML and OFAC screening, and anomaly detection.
Use of the coin is voluntary, limited to financial institutions and closed to the public, says the page, which pitches it for treasury operations and loan payoffs, with no cutoff times. The program follows the GENIUS Act framework, according to the page, and the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which oversees the state bank, approved moving forward with the pilot project.
Fiserv’s release makes no mention of its FIUSD coin
Fiserv and Bank of North Dakota announced Roughrider Coin on October 8, 2025, for availability in 2026. At the time, the coin was to “leverage the FIUSD digital asset platform.” Fiserv had unveiled its FIUSD stablecoin on June 23, 2025, promising a launch by year’s end and citing a network of about 10,000 financial institutions, Payments Dive reported then. The October 1 release does not mention FIUSD, and a Fiserv spokesperson didn’t immediately comment on its status, Payments Dive reported. The trade publication ranks North Dakota as the second state with its own digital currency, after Wyoming’s Frontier Stable Token in August 2025.
Fiserv pitches cards, cross-border payments and dollar accounts
Fiserv markets the platform to financial institutions, corporates, marketplaces and fintechs for stablecoin card issuance, cross-border payments, programmable commerce and treasury automation. It says the platform also supports tokenized deposits and global currency account services, including US dollar accounts for financial institutions worldwide. The release names no client other than Bank of North Dakota and discloses no transaction volumes or fees.