Nine major european banks have joined forces to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin regulated under the trading block’s Markets in Crypto Assets regime (MiCA).
The banking giants involved are: ING, Banca Sella, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, UniCredit, SEB, CaixaBank and Raiffeisen Bank International.
Earlier this year, CoinDesk reported that Dutch bank ING was working on a stablecoin project with some other financial institutions.
The nine bank-backed digital payment instrument, leveraging blockchain technology, aims to become a trusted European payment standard in the digital ecosystem, according to a press release on Thursday.
The initiative will provide a real European alternative to the US-dominated stablecoin market, contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy in payments, the banks said.
The stablecoin will provide near-instant, low-cost transactions and enable 24/7 access to efficient cross-border payments, programmable payments, and improvements in supply chain management and digital asset settlements, the banks said in a joint statement.
The MiCA-regulated stablecoin is expected to be first issued in the second half of 2026.
The stablecoin consortium, with the aforementioned banks as founding members, has formed a new company in the Netherlands, aiming to be licensed and supervised by the Dutch Central Bank as an e-money institution. The consortium is open to additional banks joining. A CEO is expected to be appointed in the near future, subject to regulatory approval.
Individual banks will be able to provide value added services, such as a stablecoin wallet and custody.
«Digital payments are key for new euro-denominated payments and financial market infrastructure. They offer significant efficiency and transparency, thanks to blockchain technology’s programmability features and 24/7 instant cross-currency settlement. We believe this development requires an industry-wide approach, and it’s imperative that banks adopt the same standards,» said Floris Lugt, digital assets lead at ING and joint public representative of the initiative.
Earlier this week, French bank SocGen’s Forge subsidiary, which was the first big bank to launch a euro stablecoin under MiCA, announced that its USD-denominated stablecoin USDCV had chosen Bullish Europe as the first venue to list the token.