Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other banks have committed approximately $270 million in funding to Project Faro, with plans to launch a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027.

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Santander, and Deutsche Bank have committed around $270 million in funding to the joint stablecoin project Project Faro, with the funds intended to cover the new company’s five years of operating expenses. The initiative was announced by 21 institutions in September this year, with the goal of launching a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, followed by stablecoins pegged to other currencies, starting with a euro stablecoin. People familiar with the matter said the new company responsible for issuing the stablecoin is expected to be registered in the U.S., is currently recruiting a chief executive officer, and its official name remains under discussion. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup referred questions to a project spokesperson, who declined to comment; Santander and Deutsche Bank also declined to comment. Project Faro was originally launched by a small number of banks in 2025, aiming to explore the issuance of fully reserve-backed digital currencies on public blockchains. The project has since expanded its participant roster, with additional institutions including Wells Fargo, Fidelity, UBS, and Lloyds Banking Group joining. Multiple traditional financial institutions are also advancing other stablecoin projects. Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are among over 100 companies supporting stablecoin issuer Open Standard, while several European banks have formed Qivalis to plan the issuance of a euro stablecoin. The current circulating stablecoin market is valued at approximately $290 billion, almost all of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Despite large financial institutions accelerating their presence in the space, new entrants still struggle to shake the dominance of existing issuers. According to data from DefiLlama, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC together account for around 85% of the stablecoin market.