Fiserv takes digital asset platform live with Roughrider Coin

Fiserv said on October 1 that its digital asset platform is live with financial institution clients, with Bank of North Dakota’s Roughrider Coin as the first production use case, according to a company release. Roughrider Coin is a dollar-backed stablecoin designed to move money across the state’s interbank network. A Fiserv spokesperson said the platform went live that week, according to Payments Dive.

VersaBank issues the coin and provides custody and reserve management, according to the bank’s securities filing. Fireblocks supplies digital asset infrastructure and tokenization services, and transactions are processed on the Solana blockchain, according to the Fiserv release.

Fiserv’s release referred to more than 90 participating banks and credit unions in North Dakota. Bank of North Dakota told The Dakotan that those institutions do not all have access yet, that access is being introduced gradually, and that it is running controlled trials in the production environment with four pilot institutions. The pilot partners are Gate City Bank, First International Bank & Trust, Capital Credit Union and North Star Community Credit Union, according to the Grand Forks Herald, which also reported that the coin is not available to the general public or merchants and that the pilot has no set deadline. Bank of North Dakota chief executive Don Morgan said the bank plans to add more banks and credit unions over time, according to Governing.

Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in the United States, according to VersaBank’s filing. Sunil Sachdev of Fiserv said in the release that the launch is an important milestone for the company and the financial institutions it serves.

The deployment adds a state-run bank to the list of US institutions moving into stablecoins. Twenty-one banks and financial firms committed on September 1 to form a company issuing a regulated dollar stablecoin in 2027. Fiserv, the Milwaukee-based processor, is among the largest providers of banking and payments technology in the United States.

Correction, October 9: An earlier version of this article and its summary said more than 90 banks and credit unions in North Dakota could use Roughrider Coin. Bank of North Dakota says access is being introduced gradually, and the coin is in controlled trials with four pilot institutions.