Roughrider Coin on Solana launched by Fiserv for 90+ ND banks

Fiserv launched Roughrider Coin on Solana on Oct. 1, 2026. More than 90 North Dakota banks and credit unions can access the token through Fiserv’s Commercial Center online banking system. VersaBank USA National Association issues the token, the Bank of North Dakota provides governance oversight, and Fiserv operates the digital asset platform.

Roughrider is deployed as a permissioned asset on Solana’s public blockchain. Participation is limited to licensed financial institutions that opt into the program. BND documentation explains initiation, approval and settlement of Roughrider transfers will run through the same operational channels banks use for ACH and wire transfers, allowing staff to process transactions through existing interfaces.

Each Roughrider token is backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars held in bank accounts. Minting occurs only after an originating institution moves dollars into a designated “for benefit of” account. When tokens arrive at the receiving institution’s wallet, a smart-contract instruction triggers burning of those tokens so on-chain token balances remain low while the underlying dollars remain in bank accounts.

VersaBank is assigned responsibility for minting, burning, custody and reserve management. BND documentation notes custody wallets are secured with Fireblocks. The deployment references Solana’s Token-2022 extensions to enable operational controls such as freezing and clawback when necessary. BND says account movements are netted daily across VersaBank custody accounts and a concentration account held at BND, keeping on-chain token settlement separate from bank-account reconciliation.

BND highlights use cases including intrabank treasury transfers and loan payoffs and presents comparison tables of indicative fees that show lower costs than wire transfers. The launch materials do not include measured realized savings or details of any performance testing methodology.

Fiserv reports more than 90 participating institutions but has not disclosed payment volumes or how many institutions are active senders. The production launch follows an October 2025 announcement in which BND and Fiserv planned availability in 2026. For participating community and regional banks, Roughrider provides an additional settlement option within existing workflows; the current volume and frequency of use remain unclear.