Major Banks Allocate $270 Million for Stablecoin Project Starting With Dollar
Key Facts
A group of global lenders has allocated about $270 million to a joint stablecoin issuance project, aiming to establish an issuer in the United States and launch a dollar-linked product first. The coalition includes Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank, according to Investing.com, citing Bloomberg on November 10, 2026. The capital commitment covers the first five years of the planned issuer’s operations, providing funding for its establishment and operations before the currency’s commercial launch. The project is currently operating under the internal name “Project Faro.” The group is targeting a commercial launch in the first half of 2027 and is searching for a chief executive to lead the entity.
The initiative plans to start with a dollar-linked currency, while exploring a possible expansion later to a euro-linked currency. This sequence puts the first product in the dollar stablecoin market, with the euro part of a subsequent expansion plan. The coalition said in a statement that potential uses include cross-border payments and digital-asset settlement. Those uses also include wholesale markets, institutions and individuals, placing the project within a scope that extends beyond transfers between institutions alone. The statement did not set a separate launch date for the European product.
Project Faro is a separate initiative from Qivalis, which is developing a euro-denominated stablecoin fully backed at a 1:1 ratio. Qivalis announced in May 2026 that its consortium includes 37 financial institutions in 15 European countries. The group said at the time that euro-denominated stablecoins accounted for just 0.2% of global trading and set the second half of 2026 as the expected launch date for its currency. This background highlights two different banking paths: Project Faro starts with the dollar and is exploring expansion into the euro, while Qivalis is focused on issuing a euro-denominated currency in Europe. These figures and Qivalis dates come from its statement published in May 2026.
The banks’ initiative dates back to October 2025, when an initial group of 10 banks began studying the issuance of a digital payment instrument backed 1:1 by reserves and available on public blockchains. The funding announced now marks a move from concept to a project with a planned issuer and capital allocated for operations. But allocating the funding does not mean the currency has entered circulation; the targeted commercial launch remains in the first half of 2027. Appointing a chief executive remains one of the steps expected before that date. The five-year plan provides a timeline and funding framework for the entity from the start of its operations.
The project is entering a market dominated by established issuers. Tether said it had issued more than $180 billion of its dollar-linked currency, according to a Reuters report published on September 1, 2026. By contrast, Reuters cited the limited adoption of a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Société Générale, with $12.5 million in circulation at the time of the report. The comparison shows the wide gap between the scale of an established issuer and the example of a bank-issued currency that has not gained broad adoption. For the broader market, the Federal Reserve said in its May 2026 Financial Stability Report that stablecoin assets totaled $320 billion. The Fed said those assets grew 16% between July 2025 and year-end, before growth slowed amid a broader decline in crypto asset prices.
The project is being established as the Federal Reserve develops regulatory proposals for issuers under its supervision. In September 2026, the central bank requested public comment on two proposals, one of which would require issuers to fully back currencies with permitted reserve assets, such as short-term Treasury bills, and includes standardized capital requirements. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said stablecoin stability depends on whether they can be reliably and quickly redeemed at par under a range of conditions, including market stress. These requirements form part of the regulatory environment in which the planned U.S. issuer will operate. The next announced operational step remains the selection of a chief executive, with a commercial launch targeted for the first half of 2027.