A consortium of 21 financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, BBVA, Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, and Rabobank, secured $270 million to launch Project Faro, a U.S. dollar stablecoin set to launch in the first half of 2027. The funding covers five years of operations.
Project Faro plans to issue stablecoins pegged to all G7 currencies, with a euro-backed stablecoin following the initial dollar launch. The group first announced the initiative in September 2026 and expects to incorporate in the United States.
Multiple Faro members are hedging across competing stablecoin initiatives. BBVA participates in both Project Faro and Open USD, a Stripe-led venture that includes Visa. Rabobank, another Faro member, joined Qivalis in May 2026. BNP Paribas, an early Project Faro explorer from October 2025, also joined Qivalis.
Qivalis, a European banking consortium launched with 25 new members in May 2026 to total 37 institutions, received authorization from the Dutch central bank as an electronic money institution in October 2026. It is preparing to launch a fully regulated euro-denominated stablecoin for payments, cross-border settlements, and tokenized asset transactions.
The stablecoin market is currently dominated by crypto-native issuers. Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC command approximately 85 percent of the roughly $290 billion stablecoin market. As of Nov. 10, USDT held a market capitalization of $176.3 billion and USDC accounted for $70.4 billion, according to DefiLlama data.
Project Faro's participating institutions have an advantage crypto-native competitors lack: established banking customers, payment networks, and business relationships. This existing distribution infrastructure could help the bank-backed venture gain traction against current market leaders.
