A group of global banks building a joint stablecoin has committed operating money to the venture. Bloomberg, cited by Decrypt and relying on people familiar with the matter, reported that the institutions have put around $270 million toward a planned U.S.-incorporated company that would issue a dollar-denominated stablecoin. The capital is meant to cover five years of operations. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank are among the backers named in that account.
Participants call the effort Project Faro. It was still searching for a chief executive, and its final name remained under discussion. A spokesperson for the project declined to comment. Santander and Deutsche Bank declined to comment, while Goldman and Citi referred questions to the project.
From an earlier public plan to operating funds
Decrypt described the funding as the concrete next step for an initiative that first went public late last year. In prior Decrypt reporting, 21 of the world’s largest financial institutions committed in September to form a company to issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin, targeting a launch in the first half of 2027, with a euro version and other currencies to follow. That consortium had more than doubled from an initial group of 10 banks that began exploring the idea in October 2025. As described, it spans North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The roughly $270 million figure is reported operating funding for the company. The source does not describe it as reserve assets, and no token had been issued against which reserves could be held.
Who is listed, and who is not
Beyond the four institutions named by Bloomberg, Decrypt’s account of participants includes Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, PNC, Capital One, TD Bank, UBS, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and MUFG, among others. JPMorgan, notably, is not on the list.
The venture is one of several collaborative pushes by established finance into issuance long dominated by crypto-native firms. Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are among more than 100 companies backing the issuer Open Standard, while European banks have formed Qivalis to issue a euro-denominated coin. Those are separate efforts from Project Faro.
Market share at the time, and what the banks are designing for
Decrypt reported that Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC together accounted for about 85% of a market worth roughly $290 billion, nearly all of it dollar-pegged. When the bank consortium first went public in September, Circle’s stock fell about 6% as investors priced in the prospect of bank-backed competition for USDC. That stock move is a market reaction reported at the time; it is not evidence about this project’s reserves or redemption terms.
The banks are betting that institutional trust, regulatory alignment and existing client networks can win them a share of settlement that promises round-the-clock, cross-border payments at lower cost than traditional rails. That is a commercial expectation stated through the reporting, not a completed payment network and not a claim that any coin is cheaper, safer, or always available.
The token is being designed to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act, which created the first federal framework for dollar-pegged tokens in 2025, and, where applicable, the EU’s MiCA regime. The group has said it wants the stablecoin used across wholesale, institutional and retail markets. Design intent and a named legal framework are not the same as an issued token, published backing, an attestation, or a full audit. The reporting does not describe reserve composition, redemption windows, fees, or whether holders would have a direct claim on the issuer. Nothing in the account says the planned token would be insured, guaranteed, or redeemable on fixed terms.
Still pre-launch as of the report
As of Decrypt’s 11 November 2026 report, Project Faro remained pre-launch: no issued token, no named chief executive, and no final name. The first-half 2027 target was presented as leaving ample room for delay. The commitment is a signal that the consortium intends to fund a challenge for onchain dollar issuance rather than leave that business only to crypto-native issuers. It is not a launch, and it does not establish circulation or redemption.
Original report: Decrypt, 11 November 2026, 02:33 (+08), Goldman, Citi and Global Banks Commit $270 Million to Challenge Crypto’s Stablecoin Giants.
