Goldman, Citi and Santander Line Up $270 Million for New Dollar Stablecoin

A consortium of global banks plans to commit roughly $270 million to a U.S. dollar stablecoin issuer, funding five years of operations for a new digital settlement venture. The backers include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank, and the issuer is expected to be incorporated in the United States.

The project is called Project Faro. It started small. In late 2025, ten founding banks began exploring reserve-backed products on public blockchains. The group has since grown to 21 institutions spread across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The planned token would be pegged to the dollar and would serve wholesale, institutional and retail users. Use cases include cross-border payments and digital asset settlement. The consortium wants a dollar token first, then plans to expand to other G7 currencies. The euro is expected next.

Who is running it?

Nobody yet, on the record. The consortium is still searching for a chief executive. That hire will shape whether the venture can hit its target of a commercial launch in the first half of 2027. Two years is a long runway in stablecoins, but it is short for a bank consortium building a regulated dollar token across multiple jurisdictions.

The structure tells its own story. A five-year funding commitment of about $270 million signals the banks expect a slow burn, not a quick flip. Issuers of reserve-backed tokens must hold and audit collateral, staff compliance functions and sustain distribution partnerships long before volumes justify the spend.

What does this change for the stablecoin market?

It moves the sector further from crypto-native issuers and toward balance-sheet giants. When Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank stand behind a dollar token, the product competes directly with existing issuers on trust, custody relationships and regulatory access rather than on-chain features. The wholesale and cross-border focus also distinguishes it from retail-first tokens, though the consortium says it will serve retail users too.

The plan to extend beyond the dollar into other G7 currencies matters as well. A euro-denominated token from the same consortium would give European banks a settlement instrument they currently lack, and it would test whether multi-currency issuance from a single entity can satisfy regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

Why banks, and why now?

The consortium route reflects how large institutions manage risk. Ten banks became 21. Each new member spreads the capital burden and widens the distribution network across five regions. A U.S. incorporation points toward the American regulatory perimeter, where stablecoin legislation has advanced furthest among major markets.

Public blockchains are the chosen rails, according to the project's framing. That choice keeps the token compatible with existing digital asset settlement flows rather than confined to a proprietary bank network.

The consortium still faces the mundane work: hire a chief executive, incorporate, secure approvals and build the reserve infrastructure. The stated deadline is the first half of 2027. Whether Project Faro meets that window will depend less on technology than on how fast 21 banks can agree on governance — and how quickly U.S. regulators clear a dollar token backed by some of the world's largest lenders.