USDF Stablecoin Consortium Adds 3 More Banks

Amerant Bank, ConnectOne Bank and Primis Bank have joined a consortium of financial institutions that is planning to offer a new stablecoin.

The three banks are now part of the USDF Consortium, a group that includes founding members New York Community Bank, Synovus Bank, NBH Bank, First Bank and Webster Bank, the organization said in a statement Wednesday. Investment bank Piper Sandler will offer guidance through the process as the consortium grows.

The USDF Consortium was formed in January to tackle concerns over fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies issued by non-bank entities. Stablecoins have swelled into a roughly $180 billion slice of the $1.8 trillion crypto economy, with Tether’s USDT as the top dog.

“The increase in membership is a testament to the consortium’s ability to provide in-depth guidance and connect banks with turn-key technology solutions as well as the transformative role that blockchain payment rails can play in financial services,” Ashley Harris, chairwoman of the USDF Consortium, said in the statement.

Read more: FDIC-Backed Banks Send Stablecoins in USDF First

The USDF token is minted exclusively by U.S. banks and represents a deposit at a USDF Consortium bank. USDF has been minted only on a test-case basis so far.

Banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) uniting to put out a stablecoin may seem to address lingering worries about the sound backing of major stablecoins. However, the details – including whether the FDIC can insure the stablecoin-related deposits – remain to be fleshed out.

An FDIC spokesperson told CoinDesk in January it was too soon to determine whether the FDIC could insure stablecoins.