Fiserv Launches Stablecoin for Banks. The Stock Is Rising. — Barrons.com
By Nate WolfFinancial-technology company Fiserv will launch a stablecoin and digital-asset platform for its clients by the end of the year, the company announced Monday, sending the stock higher.The move will give Fiserv's network, which connects roughly 10,000 financial institution clients and 6 million merchant locations, the ability to transact existing digital tokens or Fiserv's new token FIUSD. The company said it plans to enable the stablecoin through its current technology at no additional cost.The company is partnering with stablecoin issuers Circle Internet Group and Paxos, and the blockchain platform Solana, on the project. In a separate announcement, Fiserv and PayPal Holdings said they would make FIUSD and the stablecoin PayPal USD interoperable "to allow consumers and businesses to move funds domestically and internationally."Fiserv stock was rising 2.2% to $166.86, and shares of PayPal were up 1.6%. Circle climbed 14%, in line with its recent spate of double-digit percentage jumps."With our scale, reach, and technology leadership, Fiserv is uniquely positioned to advance stablecoin-powered payments and help democratize access to blockchain financial services," said Fiserv Chief Operating Officer Takis Georgakopoulos.The venture marks another milestone for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar, which have begun to spread throughout traditional financial markets and the broader economy.The overall stablecoin "market cap" sits at $260 billion today, Seaport Research Partners wrote in a research note. The firm projects the market will grow to $500 billion by the end of 2026 and potentially $2 trillion longer term, as more companies store the currencies in their treasuries or use them for payments.Circle shares have been soaring after its blockbuster June 5 initial public offering, with shares up more than 650% from an offering price of $31. Circle issues USDC, a token pegged to the U.S. dollar that the company launched in 2018 in partnership with Coinbase.Retail giants Walmart and Amazon.com, meanwhile, have discussed issuing their own stablecoins to customers, according to The Wall Street Journal.Stablecoin bulls got a crucial boost from lawmakers last week, when the Senate passed the Genius Act, a bill clarifying how stablecoins are regulated, requiring issuers to hold reserves of safe assets like Treasury bills, and creating a path for banks — like Fiserv's clients — to issue their own tokens.Write to Nate Wolf at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.