News Digest: Global Banks Join Forces on Stablecoin Venture
September 7, 2026
A consortium of 21 major financial institutions — including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and UBS — announced plans on Tuesday to launch a new company dedicated to issuing stablecoins for payments and digital asset settlement. The as-yet-unnamed venture is expected to be formally established in the second half of 2026, pending closing conditions.
The group intends to first bring a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin to market in the first half of 2027, before expanding into other Group of Seven currencies, with a euro-backed token identified as the next priority. The initiative traces back to an effort unveiled in October 2025, when 10 banks first explored building a fully reserve-backed digital payment asset usable on public blockchains.
Participation has since broadened considerably, now spanning North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Additional members include Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Santander, Fidelity Investments, MUFG Bank, and Standard Bank. The consortium said it plans to structure the venture to comply with both the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.
The announcement lands amid rapid growth in the stablecoin sector, whose total market capitalization has climbed from roughly $200 billion at the start of last year to about $303 billion currently, according to DeFiLlama data. Dollar-pegged tokens dominate the space, with Tether’s USDT holding a 60% share and Circle’s USDC commanding just over 20%.
Circle has already faced competitive pressure this year: its stock slid sharply in June after more than 140 companies — including Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock — unveiled a rival offering, Open USD, widely viewed as a direct challenge to USDC. This latest bank-led initiative appears to be compounding that pressure, with Circle shares down roughly 6% in Wednesday trading, underperforming most other crypto-linked stocks.
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