Standard Bank joins 21-bank group building a dollar stablecoin for 2027

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender by assets, has joined 20 international banks and asset managers in committing to establish a company that will issue a USD-denominated stablecoin, the group said Tuesday.

The details: The company, which has yet to be named, is expected to be established in the second half of 2026, subject to closing conditions. The stablecoin is targeted for launch in the first half of 2027.

• Standard Bank is the only African member. The others are Bank of America, Capital One, Citi, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, PNC Financial Services, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Wells Fargo and WisdomTree in North America; Banco Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank and UBS in Europe; MUFG Bank in East Asia; and Sirius International Holding in the Middle East.
• The token will be fully reserve-backed, issued on public blockchains and designed to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union's MiCA where applicable. Versions in other G7 currencies are planned, with the euro first.
• Proposed uses span wholesale, institutional and retail markets, including cross-border payments and digital asset settlement. The group has not disclosed which blockchains it will use.

Why it matters: Standard Bank operates in more than 20 African markets. Its participation provides access to distribution and settlement of a bank-issued dollar stablecoin across one of the continent's largest banking groups from launch.

• Africa's stablecoin activity has so far run on tokens issued outside the banking system. Mariblock reported last October that the continent moved $54 billion in stablecoins in a year.

The context: The push by banks into stablecoins comes as regulators in major markets establish clearer rules for the asset class.

• In the U.S., the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, established federal rules for payment stablecoin issuers, including banks. The consortium says its dollar stablecoin will comply with the law.
• Europe has taken a similar approach with MiCA, which sets rules for stablecoin issuers and other crypto asset providers.
• South Africa was the first major African economy to establish some level of regulatory clarity for crypto assets. Its Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) classified crypto assets as financial products in 2022 and has since licensed more than 240 crypto asset service providers.

Of note: A few other South African banks are already involved in digital assets. Absa offers custody through Ripple and holds the rand reserves behind the ZARSC stablecoin. Discovery Bank offers in-app crypto trading through Luno. The South African Reserve Bank has said it will explore wholesale CBDC options.

Zoom out: Standard Bank has spoken publicly about its approach to digital assets for years.

• In July 2023, Lungisa Fuzile, then CEO of its South African business, told Bloomberg the bank would be a "fast follower" on crypto rather than a leader, exploring the market carefully and in collaboration with regulators and other banks.
• Three months later, Ian Putter, then head of the bank's blockchain centre of excellence, told CoinDesk he saw more opportunity in blockchain than in crypto, and that South African regulators were interested in industry stablecoins.

Catch up quick: The consortium began in October 2025 with 10 banks exploring a jointly issued, reserve-backed digital currency on public blockchains. It has since grown to 21 institutions.

Meanwhile: A separate consortium, Qivalis, is building a euro stablecoin. It began with nine European banks in September 2025, grew to 37 members in May and plans to launch in the second half of 2026 under Dutch central bank supervision. BBVA and Rabobank are members of both groups.

• Société Générale, in neither consortium, issued a dollar stablecoin through its digital asset arm last year. About $12.5 million is in circulation, according to Reuters, citing the token's website.