A group of 39 state banking associations is building its own blockchain network for stablecoins, tokenized deposits and settlement. The BankChain Alliance, as the group is called, is targeting a 2027 launch and hasn't yet named a technology partner.
An industry-owned alternative
The alliance represents 3,283 banks holding $21.8 trillion in assets. Its interim chair is Kathy Kraninger, who also runs the Florida Bankers Association. The pitch is simple: give banks a network they control, not one built by a single tech vendor or dominated by crypto exchanges.
The alliance says it wants to interoperate with other systems and has invited ownership from banks nationwide. That's a deliberate contrast to closed, proprietary platforms.
The stablecoin yield fight
Banks aren't just building infrastructure — they're lobbying on rules that would shape what they can do with it. The alliance, along with the broader banking industry, has been pressing senators to tighten stablecoin yield rules in the CLARITY Act, the digital asset market structure bill pending in the Senate.
Section 404 of that bill would bar paying returns on payment stablecoins solely for holding them, but it preserves activity-based rewards. In a July 13 letter, 78 banking groups flagged ambiguities in the bill and recommended deleting Section 404's subsection (3)(B). The American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America both signed on.
A September test
Senators return to the CLARITY Act in September. A scheduled cloture vote will test whether the yield language survives. That's the next concrete moment in a debate that's been building all summer.
