‘institutions Have Arrived’ — Us Bancorp Launches Stablecoin Pilot...

The ability to freeze assets and unwind transactions was a key consideration when selecting the blockchain for the pilot, according to Mike Villano from US Bank.

US Bancorp is running a stablecoin pilot on the Stellar blockchain, joining the growing number of banks experimenting with the technology.

The bank is partnering with consulting company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Stellar Development Foundation to run the pilot.

“The bottom line is institutions have arrived. New financial infrastructure is taking shape now, and US Bank, PwC, and SDF are working to unlock the next wave of digital banking,”  said the Stellar Development Foundation on Tuesday.

US Bancorp is the publicly traded parent company of US Bank, which holds more than $664 billion in assets under management and reports annual revenue of over $27.5 billion, according to the bank.

Kurt Fields, director and blockchain lead at PwC, said the primary objective of the pilot was to demonstrate the promise of blockchain in a trusted, bank-grade environment during a Tuesday episode of the US Banks podcast, Money 20/20.

“We’ve been talking about blockchain for years and we’re at a point now where it’s not about innovation anymore,” he said.

The Stellar network launched in 2014 as an open-source, decentralized blockchain designed for cross-border payments and asset tokenization.

Mike Villano, the head of digital assets products at US Bank, said his organization chose Stellar for its pilot because it allows transaction unwinding and clawbacks.

Villano said the Stellar platform has the “ability at their base operating layer to freeze assets and unwind transactions,” which was a key consideration for customer protections.

Source: CoinTelegraph