37 European banks back MiCA euro stablecoin on Ethereum

A consortium of 37 European banks across 15 countries will issue a euro-backed stablecoin on Ethereum under the EU's MiCA framework, the largest push yet by traditional lenders into regulated digital money.

Qivalis, the Netherlands-based issuer, was formed in December 2025 by 10 banks including Rabobank, ING and BNP Paribas, and expanded to 37 members by May, according to the consortium. Fireblocks serves as its core infrastructure partner, and Reuters reported the stablecoin launch is expected later this year.

The token will be backed 1:1 by euro reserves and issued on the public Ethereum blockchain, a departure from the permissioned networks banks have favored for tokenized assets. MiCA, the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, grants a single license to operate across the bloc's 27 member states, setting reserve, redemption and disclosure rules that incumbent lenders are already structured to meet.

A live euro stablecoin would put banks in direct competition with private issuers such as Tether and Circle, whose dollar-pegged tokens dominate the market, while casting MiCA as a template for regulated issuance beyond Europe. It also parallels a separate effort by 21 global banks — including Lloyds, BBVA and Standard Bank — to issue a USD-pegged stablecoin compliant with both the US GENIUS Act and MiCA, targeting a first-half 2027 market entry.

The Qivalis project marks one of the first times a broad group of incumbent lenders has chosen a public blockchain rather than a closed, permissioned ledger for a regulated payment asset. Ethereum's role as the settlement layer gives the stablecoin access to the network's existing infrastructure for tokenized assets and decentralized finance, while MiCA's rules address the compliance questions that kept banks off public chains.

Stablecoins are digital tokens that hold a fixed value against a reference asset, in this case the euro, with reserves set aside to back every unit in circulation. MiCA treats them differently from bank deposits: issuers must keep reserves at a credit institution, honor redemption requests at par and publish monthly disclosure reports, obligations that overlap with the prudential standards European banks already follow.

The consortium's growth from 10 founding members to 37 in five months shows how quickly European lenders have moved to secure a position in euro-denominated digital money, a market long dominated by dollar-pegged tokens from non-bank issuers. Rabobank, ING and BNP Paribas anchor the group, with the additional members spanning 15 countries.

The parallel USD effort, announced in October 2025 by Santander, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, MUFG, TD Bank and UBS, has since drawn in Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, Commerzbank and Crédit Agricole. That consortium says its stablecoin will go to market in the first half of 2027.

For Ethereum, the Qivalis deployment would add a bank-issued, regulator-approved asset to a network whose stablecoin supply is already the largest of any blockchain. For the banks, the calculus is defensive as much as commercial: issuing their own regulated token lets them keep settlement and payment flows on their own balance sheets rather than ceding them to non-bank stablecoin issuers.

The near-term test is execution. Qivalis has not yet launched its stablecoin, and Reuters has reported the debut is expected later this year. Whether the consortium can convert 37 members into a single operating issuer — and whether MiCA's rules prove workable for a bank-owned stablecoin at scale — will determine if this becomes a template for the rest of Europe's banking sector.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.