For Andrew Kaplan, the chief digital and banking as a service officer at New York Community Bancorp, the reasons to make his bank the first to mint a new stablecoin called USDF were clear. The bank has begun working with Figure Technologies to issue a stablecoin, a digital asset that is always equal to a U.S. dollar, that runs on a blockchain Figure developed called Provenance. As lenders and investors buy and sell loans and other assets on Provenance, the use of the USDF stablecoin lets them settle those transactions instantly. New York Community Bank and Figure hope other banks will join their network, and also issue and honor the stablecoin. New York Community is among a handful of smaller banks forging ahead with cryptocurrency initiatives to both take advantage of clients’ growing interest in digital assets and to reap the potential efficiencies of blockchain technology.