U.S. Bank, PwC, and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) have announced that the former has begun testing custom stablecoin issuance on the Stellar Network.
The move underlines SDF’s commitment to supporting equitable access to the global financial system by making rails beneath everyday financial services more inclusive, interoperable, and efficient. Additionally, this initiative comes as a step forward toward making programmable money bank-grade.
Since its inception, Stellar has been developed for moving money and issuing assets. According to its data, Stellar had 99.99% uptime over a decade, substantial annual payment volumes, optimal built-in asset controls, and effective and cost-efficient settlement. The network offers regulated institutions the reliability, configurability, and global reach they require.
Additionally, this milestone reflects that new financial infrastructure is currently taking shape, and U.S. Bank, PwC, and SDF intend to continue to work on this and unlock the advancement of digital banking.
Talking about the announcement, Mike Villano, Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Asset Products, U.S. Bank, mentioned that for bank customers, the organisation had to take into account other safeguards around Know Your Customer (KYC), as well as the ability to unwind and clawback transactions. He added that the Stellar platform has these capabilities at the base operating layer to freeze assets and unwind transactions.
2025: the year of growth for stablecoins
Recent data from TRM showcases the growing role that stablecoins currently hold in global crypto adoption. Analysis underlines that stablecoins accounted for 30% of crypto transaction volume between January and July 2025.
Moreover, over 90% of fiat-backed stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, with Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) accounting for 93% of the total stablecoin market capitalisation. Regulation across the world has further supported this shift, with the US passing the GENIUS Act in July 2025, Hong Kong passing its Stablecoin Bill, and the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) coming into effect.
