Fiserv Launches Digital Asset Platform: Bank of North Dakota's Roughrider Coin Runs on Solana
Fiserv has put its digital asset platform into production with financial institutions. The first use case is the Bank of North Dakota's Roughrider Coin, a dollar-backed token for bank-to-bank payments, settled on Solana.
What Happened
U.S. payments provider Fiserv announced on October 1 that its digital asset platform is live with financial institutions. The first use case is the Roughrider Coin of the Bank of North Dakota, the state-owned bank of the U.S. state. Per Fiserv, the token is issued by VersaBank, the custody and tokenization infrastructure comes from Fireblocks, and settlement runs on Solana.
Who Uses the Roughrider Coin
- Banks only: per the Bank of North Dakota, the Roughrider Coin is a dollar-backed token deposit designed exclusively for bank-to-bank transactions, permissioned and backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars. Use is voluntary and limited to financial institutions.
- No retail access: asked whether the public can invest in or access the coin, the bank’s FAQ answers no.
- More than 90 institutions: per Fiserv, more than 90 banks and credit unions in North Dakota use the coin, accessing it through Fiserv’s commercial online banking (Commercial Center).
- Issuer: per the Bank of North Dakota, the issuer is VersaBank USA National Association, a bank chartered by the U.S. regulator OCC. The Bank of North Dakota provides oversight of the program.
According to Don Morgan, CEO of the Bank of North Dakota, the coin is meant to give partner banks a new tool to move money more efficiently across the state’s interbank network.
For the stablecoins available to users on Solana, see Stablecoins on Solana compared.
What to Watch
- Which further banks and use cases Fiserv launches on the platform
- Whether the Roughrider Coin is used beyond North Dakota
Sources
- Fiserv — Press release
- Bank of North Dakota — Roughrider Coin
- SOLANA·HUB knowledge: Stablecoins on Solana compared