U.S. Bank Conducts Cross-Border Payment Trial Using Proprietary Stablecoin on Stellar Network
The nation's fifth-largest commercial bank successfully executed a live international payment using its USBDC stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain amid growing institutional adoption of digital dollars.
The fifth-largest commercial banking institution in the United States, U.S. Bank, has successfully executed a live international payment transaction utilizing its own USBDC stablecoin built on the Stellar blockchain network.
The experimental transaction facilitated the movement of capital between U.S. Bank's operational entities located in North America and Europe, utilizing USBDC that was created and transferred across the public Stellar network. The pilot program additionally examined the stablecoin's capabilities for minting, redemption, freezing and clawback functionality, while simultaneously connecting with the financial institution's current risk management, compliance and operational infrastructure.
The cross-border payment confirmed the functionality of U.S. Bank's in-house developed Digital Asset Platform, which bridges tokenized digital assets with the bank's conventional banking systems, according to the bank's announcement on Wednesday. The financial institution, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is investigating further applications that include international treasury operations, liquidity management capabilities and the onchain movement of collateral.
This experimental program expands upon U.S. Bank's wider strategic initiative into the digital asset space. In October 2025, the financial institution created a specialized Digital Assets and Money Movement division concentrated on stablecoin creation, cryptocurrency custody services, asset tokenization and digital money transfer capabilities.
As the nation's sixth-largest financial institution measured by total assets, U.S. Bank has been experimenting with proprietary stablecoin creation on the Stellar network since at minimum November 2025, collaborating with PwC and the Stellar Development Foundation throughout the process.
Banks deepen stablecoin push
Although American banking institutions have resisted allowing stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency platforms to provide yield or rewards programs, several of the sector's biggest lending institutions are advancing with their own stablecoin initiatives.
On Sept. 1, a consortium of 21 significant financial institutions, featuring Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and UBS, revealed their intentions to establish a company dedicated to issuing stablecoins.
The consortium intends to introduce a stablecoin denominated in US dollars during the first half of 2027 prior to extending into additional G7 currencies. The digital token is anticipated to serve wholesale, institutional and retail marketplaces, encompassing cross-border payment services and digital asset settlement operations.
Fidelity likewise joined the marketplace in February through its Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), which was issued via Fidelity Digital Assets, the company's national trust banking entity, and made accessible to both retail and institutional participants. FIDD maintained approximately $50 million in circulation at the time of writing, based on data from DefiLlama.
