U.S. Bank pilots USBDC stablecoin on Stellar

On Sept. 9, 2026, U.S. Bank completed an internal live pilot of USBDC, its USD-backed stablecoin, on the public Stellar blockchain. The test moved value between the bank’s North America and Europe entities and exercised minting, payment redemption, freeze and clawback functions. Settlement occurred on the public Stellar ledger while the token remained under the bank’s operational control.

The pilot used U.S. Bank’s Digital Asset Platform for issuance and used the public Stellar network for settlement. The bank described Stellar as offering near-instant settlement and sub-cent transaction costs.

U.S. Bank published the Stellar issuer address for the pilot as GDABKPZMAIULVJVJJQM7L3VIG5A2IS5V4KP2P3YNP6YWRUBJNBGFGG6E. Ledger activity is visible publicly while the bank retains the ability to freeze balances and claw tokens back to the issuer.

The bank described the exercise as a validation of core functions rather than a commercial rollout. Officials said the pilot validated internal minting and redemption workflows and tested operational controls needed to meet sanctions, court orders and fraud recovery requirements. No client launch date or consumer distribution plan was announced.

U.S. Bancorp, the bank’s parent, is the fifth-largest U.S. commercial bank. Regulatory filings place its assets near $680 billion; the company reports about 70,000 employees and roughly 15 million clients.

Gunjan Kedia, chairman and CEO, described the pilot as demonstrating the bank can “accelerate global cash management and money movement capabilities and create client value inside the banking system.” Jamie Walker, head of Digital Assets and Money Movement, characterized the work as focused on “real client challenges” while maintaining safety and reliability.

U.S. Bank identified possible uses for a proprietary token including liquidity management, collateral mobility and cross-border treasury functions. The bank described USBDC as a form of programmable bank money with issuer controls that preserve traditional compliance and recovery levers even as value moves on a public ledger.

The pilot builds on earlier collaboration between the bank and industry partners on stablecoin design. U.S. Bank said the September test validated internal plumbing and control frameworks rather than moving into commercial availability.

For now, USBDC remains an internal issuance on Stellar with issuer controls in place and no announced client access or commercial timetable. The bank said continued exploration will focus on operational use cases for institutional treasury and liquidity needs.