21 large banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup jointly launched stablecoin program

Key Points

An alliance of 21 top financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America, plans to establish a company focused on stablecoins by the end of 2026.

The plan will first launch a dollar stablecoin and is expected to enter the market in early 2027.

After the launch of the U.S. dollar stablecoin, the euro stablecoin will be given priority, and more G7 currency tokens are under development.

This project aims to meet the requirements of the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU MiCA regulatory framework.

Circle shares fell about 6% after the announcement, reflecting investors 'concerns about increased competition in the USDC market.

21 well-known financial institutions around the world announced that they will set up a specialized entity to issue blockchain-based stablecoins for payment processing and digital asset transactions. The alliance brings together industry giants, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Santander, Wells Fargo, Mitsubishi UFJ, Fidelity Investments and Standard Bank.

Heavy: The world's 21 largest banks have joined forces to launch their own stablecoin. Fourteen institutions including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Wells Fargo, and Fidelity will form a new company to issue dollar-backed stablecoins, with the goal of launching them in the first quarter of 2026...

The establishment of the new company is expected to be in the second half of 2026, provided that various delivery requirements are met. Participating institutions cover multiple regional markets including North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The alliance's roadmap includes dollar-backed stablecoins as its initial product and is scheduled to be put into commercial use in early 2027. The euro-pegged digital currency is listed as a follow-up issue, and other G7 currency stablecoins will be launched in stages.

The proposed stablecoin infrastructure will serve the wholesale, institutional and retail sectors. Key applications include promoting international payments and simplifying digital asset settlement processes.

Regulatory framework as a basis

The Banking Union emphasizes its commitment to operating within the framework of the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union Cryptographic Asset Markets Regulation (MiCA). These regulatory structures establish a clearer legal framework that facilitates the adoption of stablecoins in different jurisdictions.

The plan was sprouted months ago. In October 2025, an initial consortium of 10 financial institutions announced the exploration of a reserve-backed digital payment tool that could be used on a public blockchain network. Since then, the number of participating members has increased significantly and has more than doubled.

Similar trends have emerged in the banking industry. Societe Generale's cryptocurrency arm has deployed euro and dollar-denominated stablecoins. Fidelity has launched its own dollar stablecoin, FIDD. Just last month, Standard Chartered Bank supported a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin project.

A survey conducted by Fireblocks in 2025 (covering 295 executives) showed that 90% of people were either actively using stablecoins or making implementation plans, indicating that the industry had accumulated huge momentum before this news was announced.

Market impact on Circle

The overall stablecoin market has experienced significant expansion, growing from approximately US$200 billion at the beginning of the previous year to approximately US$303 billion currently.

Tether's USDT holds approximately 60% market dominance. Circle's USDC maintains a market share of just over 20%.

Circle is facing increasing competitive pressure this year. In June, an alliance of more than 140 companies, including Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, MasterCard and BlackRock, announced plans to launch a competitive stablecoin called Open USD.

Tuesday's announcement exacerbated these concerns. Circle shares fell about 6%, underperforming most other cryptocurrency-related stocks.

Meanwhile, Singapore is reassessing its stablecoin regulation. Authorities are exploring terms that would allow joint cross-border stablecoins to be issued within their compliance framework, a shift from the previous policy that only allowed the issuance of domestically backed tokens.