Payments

Bank of North Dakota partners with Fiserv to unveil Roughrider Coin

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October 10, 2025

The Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the U.S., announced a partnership with Fiserv to product the stablecoin Roughrider Coin. Backed by the U.S. dollar, Fiserv will host the stablecoin on its digital asset platform, according to a press release.

This coin is named after Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, a cavalry military unit during the Spanish American War in 1898. The bank aims to improve bank-to-bank transactions along with international transactions and will be interoperable with other stablecoins.

"As one of the first states to issue our own stablecoin backed by real money, North Dakota is taking a cutting-edge approach to creating a secure and efficient financial ecosystem for our citizens," Governor Kelly Armstrong said in the release. "The new financial frontier is here, and The Bank of North Dakota and Fiserv are helping North Dakota financial institutions embrace new ways of moving money with the Roughrider coin."

Fiserv fist launched its digital asset platform in June alongside its white label stablecoin FIUSD.

"We're entering a new era where payments are instant, interoperable, and borderless," Takis Georgakopoulos, COO at Fiserv, said in the release. "With Roughrider Coin, we're bringing together the reliability of traditional finance and the innovation of blockchain to deliver faster and smarter digital payments. North Dakota's vision and leadership in launching this initiative show how forward-thinking policy can drive real progress in digital finance. We are pleased to be selected as their partner."

This move by the Bank of North Dakota reflects a growing interest on the U.S. government into stablecoins and cryptocurrency. The Trump administration recently signed theGENIUS Act into law, which established regulatory guidelines for stablecoins, including requiring stablecoin issuers to follow the Bank Secrecy Act for anti-money laundering.

"We have a 106-year history of commitment to North Dakota agriculture, commerce and industry through our financial institution partnerships," Don Morgan, CEO of the Bank of North Dakota, said in the release. The development of the Roughrider coin reflects that commitment, capitalizes on recent changes in federal law, and ensures the continued health, resilience and relevancy of the North Dakota financial industry for its citizens."

This move towards stablecoins is being seen in international markets as well, with Kazakhstan unveiling an Evo stablecoin and the Bank of England Governor Andrew Baileystating that stablecoins should be regulated like money.

However, there has been some pushback to stablecoins, with banks raising concerns of it drawing deposits away and weakening the banking system. In addition, the EU announced plans to sanction the Russian-backed stablecoin A7A5 due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.