This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
U.S. Bancorp is stepping onto the same fast-moving track that’s pulling major financial firms toward blockchain, testing a stablecoin on Stellar in what could be a pivotal expansion of its new digital-asset and money-movement effort. The bank has been signaling this shift for weeks, with President and CEO Gunjan Kedia noting on the October earnings call that work on both crypto custody and stablecoin payments is underway, even if demand for the payments piece could be calmer than expected. The move places the Minneapolis lender in the same conversation as Citigroup, which recently tapped Coinbase as its partner, underscoring how traditional institutions may be positioning for cheaper, possibly more flexible cross-border transactions.
Inside U.S. Bancorp, the thinking is straightforward: out-of-the-box stablecoins may offer faster and potentially lower-cost settlement, but banks need a different level of guardrails. Mike Villano, who oversees digital-asset products, said the team focused on layers such as know-your-customer controls, the ability to oversee online transactions, and claws-back mechanisms. That’s where Stellar comes in. Designed for financial-services flows, the network has become a home for players like Circle’s (NYSE:CRCL) USDC and Franklin Templeton. The Stellar Development Foundation said the chain processed $32 billion in payments last year, with 9.8 million unique addresses by the end of September, signaling growing usage as institutions explore tokenized money movement.
The test also lands at a moment when crypto firms are reshaping themselves as infrastructure vendors to banks. Ripple just raised $500 million from funds linked to Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities to broaden products for financial institutions, while Coinbase’s Base and Stripe-incubated Tempo are pushing into similar territory. For Stellar, the pitch is its independence. Jose Fernandez da Ponte, the foundation’s president and chief growth officer, said institutions weighing on-chain deployments could be responding to both regulatory shifts and customer interest, adding that an open, non-corporate blockchain might give institutions more confidence that they’re building on a platform designed for the long game rather than a competitor’s ecosystem.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
