U.S. Bank successfully executed a live pilot transaction utilizing USBDC, the bank’s proprietary U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.
The transaction was a cross-border payment between U.S. Bank entities in North America and Europe.
The pilot transaction was completed on the Stellar blockchain. The pilot represents an important milestone in the continued development of U.S. Bank’s digital asset and money movement capabilities.
“This live pilot demonstrates our ability to accelerate global cash management and money movement capabilities,” Gunjan Kedia, chairman and CEO at U.S. Bank, said. “We are excited to create value for our clients and harness the power of a new technology within the banking system.”
The pilot also validates U.S. Bank’s internally developed Digital Asset Platform, which serves as the foundation for issuing, managing and moving tokenized assets. It also enables interaction between traditional banking infrastructure and blockchain networks.
“This pilot is another step forward in our broader digital asset strategy,” Jamie Walker, head of Digital Assets and Money Movement at U.S. Bank, said. “Our focus remains on delivering solutions that solve real client challenges while maintaining the safety, security and reliability that clients expect from U.S. Bank.”
The initiative also builds on the strategic relationship between U.S. Bank and the Stellar Development Foundation. The Stellar network is a leading institutional-grade blockchain for regulated financial services with global reach, near-instant settlement and sub-cent costs.
Also, the Stellar network complements U.S. Bank’s expertise in payments, treasury and banking services. The two firms will continue to evaluate new opportunities. Future applications under exploration include enhanced liquidity management, collateral mobility, cross-border treasury operations and other institutional use cases where blockchain technology can improve efficiency, transparency and settlement speed.
U.S. Bank, based in Minneapolis, is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States.