RENO, Nev., Oct. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USBC, Inc. (NYSE American: USBC) (“USBC” or the “Company”), an industry-leading, publicly traded technology company that enables the transformation of traditional U.S. bank dollars into secure, compliant tokenized deposits, today announced a preliminary partnership with Uphold, the infrastructure provider for on-chain finance, and nationally-chartered Vast Bank that will advance the next generation of digital finance. The new strategic partnership will introduce the world’s first retail tokenized deposit offering, providing unprecedented global access to U.S. dollar-denominated tokenized deposits and U.S. dollar deposit accounts worldwide for individuals, enterprises, and financial institutions.
USBC Chairman and CEO Greg Kidd is the lead architect of the Company’s blockchain banking vision, having spent the better part of a decade developing the building blocks that now make fully-compliant, tokenized U.S. dollar deposits possible.
Expanding the Reach of U.S. Banking Worldwide
With this new partnership, Uphold’s customers will be able to open U.S. dollar deposit accounts enabling customers 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.
Accompanying the partnership announcement, USBC has published a whitepaper* outlining its vision for tokenized deposits. It can be downloaded here: http://usbc.xyz/i/whitepaper.
“Today’s announcement marks a defining moment for both USBC and the future of digital dollars,” said Greg Kidd. “By combining the regulatory strength of the national bank charter with the scalability and accessibility of blockchain technology, we’re not just innovating the U.S. dollar—we’re expanding its global influence. This new partnership with Uphold and Vast Bank positions USBC at the forefront of digital finance, building a transformative pathway to move money around the world in a fully compliant and regulated environment, unlocking meaningful opportunities to drive revenue and create shareholder value.”
The Next Generation of Digital Dollars
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 — Every dollar represented by USBC tokenized deposits is held in a deposit account at a U.S. bank and is designed in a manner to enable the underlying deposits held at the bank to be eligible for FDIC insurance up to applicable federal limits and subject to Reg E protections.
- Regulatory Confidence — Leveraging traditional bank deposits underpinned by a permissioned blockchain and digital identity enables compliance with U.S. financial regulations, setting a global standard for trusted digital money.
- Programmable Finance — Blockchain technology enables instant settlement, real-time international payments, smart contract automation, and always-on financial access.
Creating Value for USBC Shareholders
This initiative opens vast new markets for U.S. bank accounts and strengthens USBC’s strategic position as a category-defining leader. The partnership is expected to:
- Accelerate Revenue: Global access through Uphold will drive revenue from the volume of deposits flowing into Vast Bank and deepen engagement with both retail and institutional clients.
- Amplify Shareholder Value: USBC’s integration of banking and blockchain broadens its market and growth potential. As the network operator, its revenue model is highly scalable with the support of the existing infrastructure.
- Solidify Regulatory Leadership: USBC is 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.
- Ability to Expand Technology Licensing and B2B Opportunities: 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.
Uphold, Vast and USBC have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 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.
About USBC, Inc.
USBC, Inc. (NYSE American: USBC) is an industry-leading, publicly traded multi-disciplinary technology company. Under the leadership of Chairman and CEO, Greg Kidd, USBC develops transformative financial services, including digital assets and banking solutions as well as non-invasive health monitoring research. USBC has implemented a bitcoin treasury strategy to bolster development and research across its various divisions. A key focus of USBC is the further development of the USBC tokenized deposit offering, a U.S.-dollar denominated tokenized deposit that operates on blockchain technology and is embedded with digital identity. With a focus on inclusion, innovation, and risk management, USBC is dedicated to creating long-term shareholder value in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
The USBC tokenized deposit whitepaper*: http://usbc.xyz/i/whitepaper.
*The product features described in these materials are for informational purposes only. All product features may be modified, delayed, or cancelled without prior notice, at any time and at the sole discretion of USBC, Inc. Nothing herein constitutes a commitment, warranty, guarantee or investment advice.
About Uphold
Uphold is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes pioneering financial services easy and trusted for millions of customers in more than 140 countries.
Uphold integrates with more than 30 trading venues, including centralized and decentralized exchanges, to deliver superior liquidity and optimal execution. Uphold never loans out customer assets and is always 100% reserved. The company pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website (https://uphold.com/en-us/transparency).
Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCen and State regulators; and is registered in the UK with the FCA and in Europe with the Financial Crime Investigation Service under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania. To learn more about Uphold’s products and services, visit uphold.com.
About Vast Bank
Vast Bank, N.A., is a nationally chartered U.S. bank headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a legacy of family ownership and a forward-leaning approach to innovation. Vast Bank continues to pioneer next-generation financial infrastructure within a fully regulated framework. Vast Bank is enabling tokenized U.S. dollar deposits that combine the trust and protections of traditional banking—FDIC insurance, Reg E protections, and U.S. bank account credentials—with the global utility, programmability, and efficiency of blockchain-based finance.
Vast Bank is focused on building inclusive, secure, and data-driven banking products that bring modern finance to global retail customers—on-chain and on demand.
To learn more, visit www.vast.bank.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated launch of tokenized deposit accounts, the expected benefits of the partnership between Uphold, Vast Bank, and USBC, Inc., and the timing and outcome of the definitive agreement. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, regulatory approvals, market adoption, technological developments, and other factors described in USBC, Inc.’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. USBC, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
USBC Media Contact:
Fatema Bhabrawala
Director of Media Relations, Alliance Advisors
fbhabrawala@allianceadvisors.com
USBC Investor Relations Contact:
Adele Carey
VP, Investor Relations, Alliance Advisors
investors@usbc.xyz
Uphold PR Contact:
Lauren Bukoskey
Senior PR Manager
lauren@serotonin.co
Vast Bank Holdings IR PR Contact:
Bianca Lopes
Chief Strategy & Growth Officer
bianca.lopes@vast.bank
