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Pioneering consortium between Vast Bank, USBC Inc., and Uphold
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Uphold customers worldwide are expected to open U.S. dollar deposit accounts at Vast Bank, a nationally-chartered U.S. bank
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U.S. dollar-denominated tokenized deposits issued by Vast Bank
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USBC has the ability to represent a superior form of digital U.S. dollars, offering credit formation capabilities, bank account credentials and wallet addresses
Uphold, the infrastructure provider for on-chain finance, nationally-chartered Vast Bank, and USBC, the architect of the first retail tokenized U.S. dollar deposit, have entered into a preliminary strategic partnership to launch U.S. bank deposit accounts.
Tokenized deposit accounts at Vast Bank will be available to Uphold’s customers beginning in 2026. Customer bank deposits at Vast Bank will be represented by USBC and recorded on USBC’s privacy-preserving blockchain. These digital U.S. dollars are designed to enable the underlying deposit to be eligible for FDIC insurance coverage through the issuing bank and Reg E protections.
Uphold customers will be able to hold, manage, move, and spend their U.S. dollars as tokenized dollars and enjoy the benefits of blockchain-powered finance—faster, always-on, and lower-cost financial services with international reach.
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Tokenized deposits can represent a superior digital dollar when compared with stablecoins combining the benefits of blockchain with the safety and stability of the traditional banking system.
While stablecoins are synthetic dollars, often issued by a fintech, USBC is an on-chain representation of real dollars and is issued by a U.S. bank.
Accompanying the partnership announcement, USBC has published a white paper, outlining the vision for tokenized deposits.
“This partnership allows Uphold customers worldwide to have direct access to a U.S. bank deposit account, powered by tokenized deposits and digital identity,” said Simon McLoughlin, CEO of Uphold. “We’re proud to be the first major crypto platform to offer our customers the future: real U.S. dollars on-chain, issued by a nationally-chartered bank, and backed by the strength and consumer protections of the U.S. banking system.”
“We’ve been working on the tech behind the USBC vision for the better part of ten years and we’re thrilled to finally bring tokenized deposits to market with our partners Uphold and Vast Bank,” said Greg Kidd, Chairman and CEO of USBC. “We aim to provide access for people around the world to a U.S. bank account and real U.S. dollars while creating value for our shareholders.”
“From Vast Bank’s perspective, the opportunity to innovate by offering a progressive, identity-led deposit account with on-chain functionality is truly groundbreaking. As a product we see the ability for USBC to provide fair access and a data driven risk approach from Tulsa, Oklahoma to the world.” said Linda Jenkinson, Chairman and CEO of Vast Holdings, Inc.
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