Twenty‑one financial institutions announced on Tuesday that they will establish a company in the second half of 2026 to issue stablecoins, beginning with a U.S. dollar token for payments and digital asset settlement. The venture, which has not been named, aims to launch the dollar‑denominated stablecoin in the first half of 2027 and later introduce tokens tied to other Group of Seven currencies, with a euro token given priority. The initiative stems from an October 2025 announcement in which ten banks said they were exploring a digital payment asset backed one‑for‑one by reserves on public blockchains. Participants are spread across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa and include Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Santander, Fidelity Investments, MUFG Bank and Standard Bank, among others. The group said it will seek to meet requirements under the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets framework. The stablecoin market grew from about $200 billion at the start of last year to roughly $303 billion, according to DeFiLlama data, with Tether’s USDT representing roughly 60 % of total market capitalization and USDC holding more than 20 %. Circle’s shares fell about 6 % on the day, underperforming most crypto‑linked stocks after more than 140 companies, including Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard and BlackRock, announced plans to launch OpenUSD, a stablecoin that directly competes with USDC. The new venture’s success will depend on regulatory approvals and market adoption.