Falcon Finance and SoFi have each launched U.S. dollar stablecoin products linked to U.S. banking infrastructure.

On May 27 (local time), blockchain outlet Cointelegraph reported that Falcon Finance introduced the institutional fUSD and SoFi unveiled SoFiUSD for retail investors as they move to target the stablecoin market.

The two products differ in their targets and use cases. fUSD is designed for institutional investors’ trading, collateral and treasury management. SoFiUSD, by contrast, is a consumer product that users can buy, sell and hold directly within the SoFi app. Both are dollar-pegged stablecoins, but fUSD focuses on institutional market infrastructure while SoFiUSD focuses on app-based payments and holding.

Falcon Finance launched fUSD through Anchorage Digital Bank’s federally regulated issuance platform. The reserve assets consist of short-term U.S. Treasuries, cash and Treasury-collateralised repurchase agreements. The company explained that fUSD extends its existing synthetic dollar product, USDf, into a federal regulatory framework. Initially, it is set to be used as collateral in Cephu’s MirrorRSV system.

The reserve structure was designed to meet the standards of the GENIUS Act, a U.S. stablecoin regulatory bill. Artem Tolkachev (아르템 톨카체프), Falcon Finance’s chief officer for real-world assets, said the structure separates token issuance from reward payments. He said Anchorage issues fUSD, but the token itself does not pay yield. He added that Falcon Finance pays rewards to qualified institutional holders through separate contracts.

Anchorage Digital said fUSD is issued on its federally regulated bank platform and includes anti-money laundering and know-your-customer procedures linked to U.S. banking rules. Anchorage Digital Bank, under its parent company, received a national trust bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2021.

SoFi also unveiled its own dollar stablecoin, SoFiUSD, on the same day. SoFi said this is the first case in which a stablecoin issued by a U.S. national bank is offered on a consumer banking platform. Users can buy, sell and hold the token directly within the SoFi app.

SoFiUSD supports transfers on the Ethereum and Solana networks. SoFi plans to expand the product in the coming weeks with tokenised deposits, cross-border payments and exchange integration. In a later update, it also plans to add a function that converts it into an interest-paying tokenised deposit linked to a bank account. SoFi is also pursuing a plan to list SoFiUSD on the crypto exchange Bullish.

SoFi said users can access SoFiUSD starting May 27, and it will be available more broadly in early June as the app’s latest version is rolled out. The token is redeemable one-for-one for U.S. dollars and is backed by liquid assets held by SoFi Bank.

The move also aligns with the expansion of the stablecoin market. Total stablecoin market capitalisation stood at about $322.6 billion, up about 31 percent from about $246.8 billion a year earlier, according to DeFiLlama. Stablecoin competition is increasingly becoming more segmented by issuer, distribution channels and regulatory compliance.

A common feature of these launches is that they put banking infrastructure and regulatory compliance at the forefront. Actual use cases differ. Falcon Finance is targeting institutional collateral and treasury management, while SoFi chose a consumer touchpoint within its banking app, connecting holding and transfers and, later, conversion to tokenised deposits. Attention is focusing on whether the next phase of competition in the stablecoin market will shift from issuance volume to distribution channels and the expansion of bank-linked services.