RPT-Euro stablecoin project adds 25 new banks

Twenty-five more banks, including lenders ABN Amro and Sabadell, have joined a European consortium planning to launch a euro-pegged ‌cryptocurrency later this year, the group said on Wednesday. The consortium - which set up an Amsterdam-based company called Qivalis last year - now has 37 financial institutions as members, including ING, BNP Paribas and BBVA , from 15 countries.

Twenty-five more banks, including lenders ABN Amro and Sabadell, have joined a European consortium planning to launch a euro-pegged ‌cryptocurrency later this year, the group said on Wednesday.

The consortium - which set up an Amsterdam-based company called Qivalis last year - now has 37 financial institutions as members, including ING, BNP Paribas and BBVA , from 15 countries. The ‌project is framed as a way to counter U.S. dominance in digital payments, as well as ‌participate in a possible future system where assets such as bonds and real estate are traded as blockchain-based crypto tokens, although the European Central Bank is sceptical about the benefits.

"The euro is Europe's currency, and on-chain financial infrastructure should carry it - built ⁠by ​European institutions and governed by ⁠European rules," Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell said in the statement. The 25 new members include: Dutch lenders ABN Amro and Rabobank, Spanish ⁠lenders Sabadell and Bankinter , Bank of Ireland, Sweden's Handelsbanken and Finland's Nordea, among others.

Various news outlets had reported earlier ​in May that some of the banks were due to join. The crypto industry is increasingly ⁠competing with mainstream financial institutions, putting traditional lenders under pressure to find uses for blockchain technology within their own businesses.

Stablecoins - a type ⁠of ​cryptocurrency pegged to a fiat currency - are mostly used in crypto trading, and have surged in size in recent years. The market is dominated by El Salvador-based Tether and U.S.-based Circle, which say ⁠they have around $190 billion and $77 billion of their dollar-pegged tokens in circulation respectively. Still, there are few signs of ⁠demand for euro-pegged alternatives. Societe ⁠Generale's crypto arm, SG-FORGE - which is not part of Qivalis - launched a euro-pegged stablecoin in 2023, but it has just 105.6 million euros ($122.40 million) worth ‌of tokens in ‌circulation.

($1 = 0.8627 euros)