What happened?
North Dakota is launching a state-backed stablecoin called the Roughrider Coin in 2026 through the Bank of North Dakota with Fiserv. The token will be fully backed by U.S. dollars and will first be used for interbank activities like loan settlements, overnight lending, and construction advances among local community banks and credit unions. This makes North Dakota the second U.S. state after Wyoming to issue a government-backed stablecoin and the project will be built to interoperate with other regulated stablecoin providers.
Who does this affect?
Directly affected are the Bank of North Dakota, North Dakota’s community banks and credit unions that will use Roughrider Coin to make institutional transactions faster and more secure. Fintech partners like Fiserv and infrastructure firms such as Paxos and Circle — plus payments companies watching stablecoin rails — will also be involved and potentially benefit. Residents and regulators will be impacted down the line if the bank expands retail offerings, and other states will likely watch this as a possible model for public-sector digital assets.
Why does this matter?
This matters because government-backed stablecoins moving into real banking use can speed settlement times and lower costs for institutions, changing how money moves at the local level. The timing is notable given the broader stablecoin boom — about $46 billion of net new issuance in Q3 — and growing interest from major payment firms, which could push faster adoption of digital payment rails. Over time, increased use of state-issued and other stablecoins could shift where deposits and payments sit, intensify competition for traditional banks, and drive more fintech integration into core finance systems.