BNP Paribas has joined a consortium of European lenders gearing up to issue a euro-denominated stablecoin next year, with other regional lenders in discussions to join the project.
France’s largest bank by assets is the 10th lender to join the initiative, which will be run by an Amsterdam-based company named Qivalis, it was announced on Tuesday.
Qivalis — whose member institutions also include UniCredit, CaixaBank, Danske Bank and Raiffeisen Bank — is on track to launch the stablecoin in the second half of 2026, subject to an e-money institution licence award from the Dutch Central Bank as an e-money institution, which is likely to take at least six months to obtain.
Former Coinbase executive Jan-Oliver Sell serves as its chief executive. ING’s digital asset lead Floris Lugt is set to leave the bank to become chief financial officer, with former NatWest chair Howard Davies to chair its supervisory board.
Sell hopes to position the jointly issued euro stablecoin as a “global benchmark” in digital finance, but admitted the launch trailed that of competitors such as Société Générale’s digital asset subsidiary, SG Forge.
The stablecoin, first announced in September, is designed to provide a euro-denominated alternative to the otherwise US dollar-dominated stablecoin market, which accounts for around 99 per cent of global stablecoin usage. While euro-denominated stablecoins have seen strong growth in recent months, their total market capitalisation remains at just €395mn, according to the European Central Bank.
“This infrastructure is essential if Europe wants to compete globally in the digital economy while preserving its economic independence . . . We’re ensuring that European values around data protection, financial stability, and regulatory compliance are embedded into the future of the next level of digital money,” Davies said.
Initial target use cases for the stablecoin include “decentralised finance” and crypto markets, cross-border payments and remittances, and settlement of tokenised assets. Banks will be able to offer services such as a stablecoin wallet and custody, with 24/7 access to cross-border payments and programmable payments.
Exactly which banks will hold the reserves backing the new stablecoin has yet to be decided.
After BNP Paribas joined the group on Monday, Sell confirmed the consortium has had interest from other banks, though he did not disclose which lenders had approached the group.
The stablecoin will be regulated by the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (see Provision Tracker), two years after the EU introduced it.
