US Bancorp Completes Live USBDC Stablecoin Pilot on Stellar as Block Files for Bank Charter

U.S. Bancorp completed a live cross-border payment pilot using its proprietary dollar-backed stablecoin, USBDC, marking a significant step toward commercial deployment. The transaction ran on the Stellar blockchain, following a partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation first announced in November 2025. The pilot tested minting, redeeming, freezing and clawing back tokens, and also validated the bank's internally developed Digital Asset Platform, which integrates blockchain networks with its finance, compliance, risk and operations systems. U.S. Bank CEO Gunjan Kedia said the test demonstrates "our ability to accelerate global cash management and money movement capabilities."

U.S. Bank said it is exploring USBDC for cross-border treasury operations, liquidity management and collateral movement, though it did not provide a timeline for a broader commercial rollout or client availability. The move comes as banks broadly race to establish blockchain-based payment infrastructure. Last week, 21 financial institutions including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS announced plans to jointly issue a dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, while a group of European lenders formed a consortium called Qivalis to issue a euro-backed stablecoin.

Separately, Jack Dorsey's payments firm Block filed an application on September 4 with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish an uninsured national trust bank called Builders Bank and Trust, N.A. The proposed bank would custody Bitcoin and other digital assets and settle stablecoins, but would not accept deposits or make loans. Block's filing adds to a growing list of crypto firms, including EDX and Zerohash, seeking federal bank charters as regulators clarify digital asset rules.