U.S. Bank has completed a live cross-border payment using USBDC, its proprietary dollar-backed stablecoin, on the Stellar blockchain. The fifth-largest U.S. commercial lender says it is now exploring the token for treasury operations, liquidity management and moving collateral.
U.S. Bancorp's U.S. Bank completed a live transaction moving USBDC between its own entities in North America and Europe, according to a Wednesday statement. The pilot ran on the Stellar network, following a November announcement that the bank would experiment with custom stablecoin issuance alongside the Stellar Development Foundation.
What the test covered
The pilot tested minting and redeeming USBDC, plus freezing and clawing back tokens. It also validated the bank's internally developed Digital Asset Platform, which connects blockchain networks with its finance, compliance, risk and operations systems.
According to CoinDesk: "This live pilot demonstrates our ability to accelerate global cash management and money movement capabilities", said Gunjan Kedia, chairman and CEO at U.S. Bank. Jamie Walker, the bank's Head of Digital Assets and Money Movement, said the work addresses real client challenges with bank-grade controls, according to Crypto Briefing.
The groundwork traces back to October 2025, when U.S. Bank formed a dedicated Digital Assets and Money Movement organization. By late 2025 the bank was already custodying reserves for Anchorage Digital Bank's stablecoins, according to Crypto Briefing, before the November collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation and PwC.
Banks push deeper into stablecoins
The test builds on a pilot first disclosed in November as banks push deeper into the roughly $300 billion stablecoin market. Last week, 21 financial institutions including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS announced plans to form a company to issue stablecoins for payments and digital asset transactions, with a dollar token expected in the first half of 2027 before expanding to other currencies. In May, a group of European lenders formed a consortium called Qivalis to issue a euro-backed stablecoin.
U.S. Bank's choice of a public blockchain rather than a private or permissioned ledger sets a different precedent from efforts such as JPMorgan's blockchain work through Kinexys, formerly Onyx, according to Crypto Briefing.
No rollout timeline yet
U.S. Bank said it is exploring several uses for USBDC, including cross-border treasury operations, liquidity management and moving collateral. The bank did not say when the stablecoin could become available to clients or give a timeline for a broader commercial rollout.
Sources: U.S. Bank, CoinDesk, Crypto Briefing
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