U.S. Bank takes next step towards launching its stablecoin with cross-border payment test

U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States, has successfully tested its proprietary stablecoin, USBDC, in a cross-border transaction on the Stellar blockchain. The pilot project facilitated a live payment between the bank's North American and European entities, with the USBDC issued and transferred on the public Stellar network.

In addition to validating the stablecoin's minting, redemption, freezing, and clawback functions, the test also integrated USBDC with the bank's existing risk, compliance, and operations systems. This demonstrates U.S. Bank's Digital Asset Platform, which links tokenized assets with its traditional banking infrastructure. The bank, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is exploring further applications, such as cross-border treasury operations, liquidity management, and moving collateral onchain.

This pilot builds upon U.S. Bank's ongoing efforts in digital assets, as it launched a dedicated Digital Assets and Money Movement unit in October 2025 to focus on stablecoin issuance, crypto custody, asset tokenization, and digital money movement. The country's sixth-largest financial institution by assets has been experimenting with custom stablecoin issuance on Stellar since at least November 2025, collaborating with PwC and the Stellar Development Foundation.