Global banks plan to invest about $270 million, or 363 billion won, in a joint dollar stablecoin business.

On Nov. 10, local time, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank committed funding to the initiative codenamed Project Faro, blockchain outlet Decrypt and other foreign media reported.

The funds are expected to be used for the first five years of operating costs for a stablecoin issuer to be established in the United States. The entity aims to issue a dollar-pegged stablecoin and is currently searching for a chief executive officer. The final corporate name has not been decided. The funding commitment shows that a joint banking project discussed since October last year has entered a concrete execution stage.

Project Faro began with 10 banks reviewing the idea and later expanded participating institutions. In September, 21 financial institutions announced plans to establish a joint issuer and launch a dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027. Participants expanded across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, UBS, BBVA, Lloyds Banking Group and MUFG. JPMorgan is not on the participant list.

Banks decided to pursue the joint project because of high barriers to entry in the existing stablecoin market. Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC account for about 85 percent of the roughly $290 billion market, worth about 390 trillion won. When the consortium's plan was first disclosed in September, Circle shares fell about 6 percent as the possibility of bank competition came into focus.

Participating banks plan to secure market share by leveraging their existing customer bases, credibility as financial institutions and regulatory 대응 capabilities. A key goal is to extend existing payment networks to blockchain-based settlement and offer 24-hour cross-border payments at lower cost than existing methods. The group plans to enable use of the stablecoin across wholesale, institutional and retail markets.

On regulation, it plans to design the token to comply with the U.S. federal stablecoin law known as the GENIUS Act and to reflect the European Union's crypto-asset rules known as MiCA. It is also pursuing a plan to first launch a dollar-pegged token and then expand issuance to stablecoins based on major currencies including the euro.

The traditional finance sector's joint push is not limited to Project Faro. More than 100 companies including Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are backing stablecoin issuer Open Standards, and European banks have established Qivalis to issue a euro-pegged stablecoin.

Project Faro is still in the pre-launch stage. No tokens have been issued, and the CEO and final corporate name have not been decided. It is targeting a launch in the first half of 2027, but the actual issuance schedule could change depending on future preparations.

A project spokesperson declined to comment. Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank also did not provide separate positions, while Goldman Sachs and Citigroup referred queries to the project side. The roughly $270 million funding commitment shows that banks' move to enter the stablecoin market directly and compete with existing crypto companies is taking clearer shape.