According to Gizmodo, U.S. Bancorp is testing its own stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain through a pilot program detailed in a recent Bloomberg report. The bank’s senior vice president for digital asset products Mike Villano highlighted Stellar’s suitability for traditional financial services as a key selling point. While CEO Gunjan Kedia noted customer demand remains muted, the pilot focuses on faster cross-border payments with safeguards like customer verification and transaction reversals. Villano specifically called the ability to freeze assets on Stellar “particularly appealing,” directly contrasting with Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant philosophy. The testing comes as stablecoin transactions have hit $27 trillion globally, driving most activity on networks like Ethereum.
Stablecoin reality check
Here’s the thing about stablecoins: they’re basically becoming the financial industry’s favorite Trojan horse. Everyone’s jumping in – Klarna just launched KlarnaUSD, Revolut rolled out fee-free stablecoin swaps for 65 million users, and even payroll provider Deel announced a crypto vertical. But what are we actually getting? Faster payments, sure. But we’re trading decentralization for efficiency, and I’m not convinced that’s a good deal.
The control problem
When a bank executive calls asset freezing “appealing,” that should set off alarm bells for anyone who cared about crypto’s original promise. We’ve gone from “be your own bank” to “please let the bank control your money, but with blockchain!” Look at the contrast between the Samourai Wallet developers getting prison time while the Binance CEO gets a pardon. The message is clear: play nice with traditional finance, or face consequences. And Circle’s “Circle ♥️ Banks” tweet just rubs salt in the wound.
Where did decentralization go?
Remember when crypto was supposed to be about peer-to-peer financial sovereignty? Now we’ve got Ethereum Foundation researchers jumping to bank-friendly chains like Stripe’s Tempo, and major partnerships between Citi, JPMorgan, and Coinbase. The technology is evolving into an efficiency tool for incumbents rather than a true disruptor. Basically, we’re rebuilding the traditional financial system with extra steps and different branding.
Political realities
And let’s not ignore the political angle here. The Trump administration’s GENIUS Act, signed in July, essentially treats stablecoins as a way to extend dollar dominance globally. As Cointelegraph reported, this sets up a potential showdown between Bitcoin purists and the stablecoin crowd. So we’re not just talking about technological choices – we’re talking about geopolitical strategy wrapped in crypto packaging. The whole space feels like it’s lost its way, assuming it ever had a clear direction to begin with.
