Early Warning Services (EWS), the parent of the Zelle payments app, announced the launch of its ZLUSD stablecoin, which is intended to be used for cross border remittances. While the stablecoin is live, the Zelle app will only start supporting stablecoin payments by the end of the year, with India as the first friends and family corridor.
This is a major milestone for stablecoins because it puts them into the hands of so many mainstream users, and was enabled by the passage of the GENIUS Act. Zelle has over 150 million users, is offered by 2,400 US banks and credit unions, and supports $1.2 trillion in annual payments. The parent company is owned by Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. While EWS is not technically a consortium, it marks the first major launch of a multi bank stablecoin, with Europe’s Qivalis in the wings.
The announcement was a little thin on details, such as which blockchain will host the stablecoin and technically who is the issuer, because it doesn’t have to be EWS. For example, PayPal’s stablecoin is issued by Paxos. That said, it described the stablecoin as “proprietary”. But those details are likely to be revealed shortly. What’s more interesting is the choice of India as the first corridor.
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