Last updated on March 4th, 2026 at 11:45 am
A coalition of major European lenders is accelerating plans to introduce a euro-pegged stablecoin, marking one of the region’s most coordinated efforts to challenge the dominance of US dollar-backed digital tokens.
Qivalis, a banking consortium that includes ING, UniCredit and newly joined BBVA, is now in advanced negotiations with crypto exchanges, liquidity providers and market makers ahead of a targeted launch in the second half of 2026.
JUST IN: 12 European Banks plan to launch Euro Stablecoin in 2026, led by Ex-Coinbase Executive. The stablecoin will be backed 1:1 with bank deposits and euro-area sovereign bonds, targeting real-time cross-border B2B payments and global trade.
— RWA Pulse – by RWA.io (@rwa_pulse) March 2, 2026
The initiative was first unveiled in September 2025 with nine founding members, among them CaixaBank, Danske Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, KBC, SEB, DekaBank and Banca Sella.
A regulated European alternative
The consortium’s leadership says the stablecoin is designed to serve as a regulated, euro-based alternative to dollar-denominated tokens that currently dominate global crypto markets.
Chief executive Jan Sell, formerly head of Coinbase Germany, has emphasized the project’s international scope. According to Sell, Qivalis is evaluating partnerships both within Europe and beyond, provided potential collaborators comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Spanish exchange Bit2Me, which holds a MiCA license, is reported to be among platforms that have engaged in talks with consortium members.
Reserve structure and 24/7 redemptions
Qivalis executives have outlined a conservative reserve model to underpin the token’s credibility. The stablecoin will be backed one-to-one, with at least 40% of reserves held in bank deposits.
The remaining portion will be allocated to high-quality, short-term sovereign bonds issued across multiple euro-area countries, a move intended to avoid overexposure to any single jurisdiction.
Importantly, the token is expected to support round-the-clock redemption, positioning it as infrastructure for real-time cross-border business payments and global trade settlements, a use case European banks increasingly see as strategic in the evolving digital asset economy.
Meanwhile, Blockchain.com and Ondo Finance extended their partnership to bring tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds on-chain to users across Europe, funds on-chain to users across Europe, as demand grows for blockchain-based access to traditional financial markets.
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