CaixaBank, ING, Banca Sella, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, UniCredit, SEB, and Raiffeisen Bank International have announced the creation of a euro-linked stablecoin, designed in accordance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. This new digital payment instrument, based on blockchain technology, aims to establish itself as a trusted benchmark within the European financial ecosystem.
The stablecoin will enable near-instant, low-cost, and 24/7 available payments and settlements, including cross-border transactions, programmable payments, improvements in supply chain management, and the settlement of digital assets such as securities and cryptocurrencies. According to Mariona Vicens, Director of Digital Transformation and Advanced Analytics at CaixaBank, “Technology is profoundly transforming financial infrastructure, especially the standards for conducting payments and transactions. At CaixaBank, we have been pioneers in early-stage innovations that later contributed to the transformation of payment services, collaborating with authorities and regulators in both retail and wholesale digital payments.”
“With this same vision,” Vicens added, “we are driving a project that has gained strong support from leading banking institutions and has high potential to attract further backing from other financial and technological players. We believe this initiative can mark an important step in building a robust and reliable European digital payments ecosystem that reinforces Europe’s strategic autonomy in the payments space.”
The stablecoin will be regulated under the EU’s MiCA regulation and is expected to be issued in the second half of 2026. The stablecoin consortium, with the aforementioned banks as founding members, has established a new company in the Netherlands, which will apply for an electronic money institution license and be supervised by the Dutch central bank.
The consortium is open to the addition of more banks, and the appointment of a CEO is expected in the near future, pending regulatory approval. The initiative aims to provide a European alternative in a stablecoin market currently dominated by USD-denominated options, contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy in payments. Participating banks will be able to offer value-added services such as stablecoin wallets and custody.
