A consortium of 12 European banks led by Qivalis has selected Fireblocks to provide infrastructure for a Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA)-compliant euro stablecoin, according to a Tuesday release shared with Cointelegraph.
The group says it is targeting a launch in the second half of 2026, subject to approval from the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, under the European Union’s MiCA regulatory framework.
Qivalis, a Netherlands-based venture backed by major banks including BBVA, BNP Paribas, ING and UniCredit, said in the release it plans to issue a fully regulated, 1:1-backed euro token structured as an electronic money institution under Dutch supervision.
The stablecoin is intended to support institutional use cases such as settlement, treasury and tokenized assets, and Fireblocks will provide tokenization technology, wallet infrastructure and lifecycle management tools, including features designed to support compliance such as identity verification and sanctions screening.
The project comes as European banks and policymakers step up efforts to reduce reliance on dollar-denominated stablecoins in digital payments and settlement, and as European banks and corporates actively select partners and infrastructure providers to accelerate euro stablecoin initiatives across the region.
Related: French finance minister backs euro-pegged stablecoins to compete with US
A spokesperson from Fireblocks told Cointelegraph that the project is being designed as a “regulated euro-native settlement instrument” for European institutions, rather than relying on dollar-based alternatives or smaller euro tokens without comparable banking backing.
The spokesperson added that the platform is intended to support issuance, custody, treasury management and payment orchestration, enabling participating banks to offer clients a compliant euro-denominated digital payment asset across multiple business lines.
European banks push euro stablecoin to counter dollar dominance
According to DeFiLlama data, the total global stablecoin market capitalization is around $320 billion, with roughly 99% of supply tied to the US dollar and only a small share denominated in euros.
The initiative also follows warnings from the Bank for International Settlements and other regulators that some dollar stablecoins may function more like investment vehicles than money due to their reliance on short-term securities.
On Monday, BIS general manager Pablo Hernández de Cos repeated that warning, urging for greater global coordination on stablecoin regulation to address cross-border risks and prevent gaps in oversight.
Earlier this month, Bank of France first deputy governor Denis Beau urged the European Union to limit the use of non-euro-denominated stablecoins in everyday payments to reduce regulatory arbitrage in times of stress.
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