Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and other banks have committed approximately $270 million to Project Faro, with plans to launch a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027.

November 11 - According to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Santander, and Deutsche Bank have committed approximately $270 million to the joint stablecoin project Project Faro, with funds intended to cover the new company's operating expenses for five years. The initiative was announced by 21 institutions in September this year, with the goal of launching a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, followed by stablecoins pegged to other currencies, the first of which will be a euro stablecoin.

The people familiar with the matter said the new company responsible for issuing the stablecoin is expected to be registered in the United States, is currently searching for a chief executive officer, and its official name is still under discussion. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup referred questions to a project spokesperson, who declined to comment; Santander and Deutsche Bank also declined to comment.

Project Faro was initially launched by a small number of banks in 2025 to explore the issuance of fully reserve-backed digital currencies on public blockchains. The project has since expanded its participation, with Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, UBS, and Lloyds Banking Group also among the participating institutions.

Multiple traditional financial institutions are also advancing other stablecoin projects. Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are among more than 100 companies supporting stablecoin issuer Open Standard, while several European banks have formed Qivalis to plan the issuance of a euro stablecoin.

The scale of stablecoins currently in circulation is approximately $290 billion, almost all pegged to the U.S. dollar. Despite the accelerated positioning of large financial institutions, new entrants still find it difficult to shake the dominant position of existing issuers. According to DefiLlama data, Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC together account for about 85% of the stablecoin market.