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10.12.2025
Europe’s Answer to Dollar Stablecoins Takes Shape
Europe’s Answer to Dollar Stablecoins Takes Shape
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For years, stablecoins have been dominated by dollar-based projects and crypto companies. Now Europe’s largest banks are stepping into the digital-currency spotlight with a project that aims to create a trusted euro-denominated digital currency for institutional use. It could become the backbone of Europe’s tokenized finance ecosystem, promising faster settlement, lower costs, and issuing stablecoin-nominated digital bonds.

A consortium of ten of Europe’s leading banks has formally launched Qivalis, a new Amsterdam-based venture created to issue a euro-pegged stablecoin, signalling what may become one of the most significant steps yet toward a regulated digital-euro ecosystem. The founding group includes major names such as ING, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, and others - institutions that have joined forces to create a regulated alternative to the dollar-based stablecoins that currently dominate global digital payments.

Qivalis aims to launch its euro stablecoin during the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. The company has already applied for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence with the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, aligning the project with the broader European regulatory framework under MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets).

Leadership is already in place: former lead of Coinbase Germany, Jan‑Oliver Sell, will serve as Qivalis’s CEO; ING’s digital-assets head Floris Lugt will be CFO; and former chair of NatWest and UK financial regulator, Howard Davies, will chair its supervisory board.

The ambition is to build a “home-grown” European digital payments infrastructure: a stablecoin fully denominated in euros, underpinned by regulated banking reserves, and capable of powering 24/7 on-chain payments, cross-border transfers, settlements, tokenized-asset transactions, and corporate payments - without relying on legacy banking rails.

Participating banks say this could reduce dependence on U.S.-dollar-based crypto-payment systems, increase Europe’s digital-monetary sovereignty, and establish a regulated alternative for European institutions, companies, and potentially retail users.

Author
Vladimir Tarantaev, CFA, PMP
Vladimir Tarantaev, a CFA expert in fixed income, has a strong track record in credit analysis at CIS banks and a diverse background in math-physics and astronomy.
Vladimir Tarantaev
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Author
Vladimir Tarantaev, CFA, PMP
Vladimir Tarantaev, a CFA expert in fixed income, has a strong track record in credit analysis at CIS banks and a diverse background in math-physics and astronomy.
Vladimir Tarantaev
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