• About $270 million has been committed to fund five years of operations for the venture, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter [1][2].
  • The U.S.-incorporated company plans a dollar stablecoin first, then tokens in other G7 currencies with the euro next; the target launch is the first half of 2027 [2][3].
  • Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC hold about 85% of a stablecoin market worth roughly $290 billion, according to Decrypt [2].

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Santander, Deutsche Bank and other financial firms have committed about $270 million to a jointly owned stablecoin company, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter [1][2]. The money is meant to cover the venture's operating costs for five years [1].

CoinDesk's account of the report also lists Wells Fargo, Fidelity, MUFG and Standard Bank among the firms committing money [1]. Participants use the codename Project Faro, and the final name is still under discussion; the venture has not named a chief executive [2]. A project spokesperson declined to comment, as did Santander and Deutsche Bank, while Goldman and Citi referred questions to the project, Decrypt reported [2].

From 10 banks to 21

The group began in October 2025 with 10 banks exploring a 1:1 reserve-backed digital currency and expanded to 21 institutions by Sept. 1, when they announced plans to form a company by the end of 2026 to issue a stablecoin [3][4]. Members named at the time include Bank of America, Citi, Capital One, Goldman Sachs, PNC, Wells Fargo, TD, Scotiabank, UBS, Santander, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Lloyds, Crédit Agricole, Rabobank and MUFG [4]. JPMorgan Chase is not part of the group [4].

The company will first issue a dollar token, followed by stablecoins in other G7 currencies, with a euro coin the next priority [3][4]. It is aimed at wholesale, institutional and retail use, including cross-border payments and settlement of digital assets, and is being designed to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act and, where applicable, the EU's MiCA rules [2][4].

Taking on Tether and Circle

Dollar tokens from Circle and Tether dominate the market, and Circle's stock fell about 6% when the bank consortium went public in September, Decrypt reported [2]. The banks are not alone: Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are among more than 100 companies backing the issuer Open Standard, and a group of European banks has formed Qivalis to issue a euro stablecoin [2]. U.S. banks are also testing stablecoins on their own; PNC has started piloting USDC payments for corporate clients with Coinbase, as MLQ.ai reported.

Companies mentioned

Further sources

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