USBC, Uphold and Vast Bank Partner to Launch World's First Retail Tokenized Deposits

USBC, Inc. has announced a preliminary partnership with Uphold and nationally-chartered Vast Bank to introduce the world's first retail tokenized deposit offering. This strategic collaboration will provide unprecedented global access to U.S. dollar-denominated tokenized deposits and U.S. dollar deposit accounts worldwide for individuals, enterprises, and financial institutions. The partnership represents a major step forward in bridging traditional banking with blockchain technology while maintaining regulatory compliance and consumer protections.

Under this new arrangement, Uphold's customers will be able to open U.S. dollar deposit accounts enabling them to hold and transfer digital representations of their U.S. dollar deposits at Vast Bank on USBC's privacy-preserving blockchain beginning in 2026. Enabled by Vast Bank's national charter and compliance framework, USBC tokenized deposits are designed to enable the underlying deposit to be eligible for FDIC insurance in accordance with applicable limits and requirements and subject to Reg E protections. This combination of traditional banking safeguards with modern blockchain technology sets this initiative apart from other digital currency offerings.

USBC Chairman and CEO Greg Kidd described the announcement as a defining moment for both USBC and the future of digital dollars. By combining the regulatory strength of the national bank charter with the scalability and accessibility of blockchain technology, the partnership aims to expand the global influence of the U.S. dollar while creating a transformative pathway to move money around the world in a fully compliant and regulated environment. The initiative is expected to unlock meaningful opportunities to drive revenue and create shareholder value while setting new standards for digital finance.

Unlike stablecoins, which are synthetic and lack meaningful consumer protections, USBC tokenized deposits are on-chain, digital representations of real U.S. dollars and are issued by a bank regulated under U.S. law. This breakthrough product offers three key advantages over other digital dollar initiatives: unparalleled safety with every dollar represented by USBC tokenized deposits held in a deposit account at a U.S. bank and designed to enable the underlying deposits to be eligible for FDIC insurance; regulatory confidence through leveraging traditional bank deposits underpinned by a permissioned blockchain and digital identity that enables compliance with U.S. financial regulations; and programmable finance through blockchain technology that enables instant settlement, real-time international payments, smart contract automation, and always-on financial access.

The partnership is expected to accelerate revenue by providing global access through Uphold that will drive revenue from the volume of deposits flowing into Vast Bank and deepen engagement with both retail and institutional clients. It will also amplify shareholder value as USBC's integration of banking and blockchain broadens its market and growth potential. As the network operator, USBC's revenue model is highly scalable with the support of the existing infrastructure. The initiative solidifies USBC's regulatory leadership by setting the industry template for compliant, scalable digital money, offering a framework for other U.S. banks to safely enter the tokenized deposit market by integrating with its tech stack.

USBC has published a whitepaper outlining its vision for tokenized deposits available at http://usbc.xyz/i/whitepaper. The companies have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to finalize the terms of their strategic partnership in a definitive agreement. While non-binding, the MOU reflects a shared intent to finalize the terms of the partnership during the fourth quarter of 2025, with the final agreement being subject to requisite board and regulatory approvals. The partnership's infrastructure is built to be scalable, inviting the future potential for additional financial institutions to leverage this blueprint for secure, on-chain bank operations.