Global banks plan stablecoin rival to agent-friendly USDC

A group of 21 banks and asset managers, including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS, plans to form a company that will issue stablecoins for payments and digital asset settlement, CoinDesk’s Francisco Rodrigues reported.

The unnamed venture expects to launch a U.S. dollar token in the first half of 2027, then expand to other Group of Seven currencies, with a euro stablecoin the next priority. The company is expected to be established in the second half of this year, subject to closing conditions.

The DeAI angle: A bank-backed token could become the first major challenge to USDC’s head start in crypto rails designed for machine-to-machine commerce.

DeAI News reported last month that Circle’s USDC settles 99% of payments on x402, the leading protocol for agent-to-agent commerce, citing Shoal Research.