A coalition of a dozen European banks is preparing to launch a regulated euro stablecoin — and Fireblocks is building the plumbing.
Crypto custody firm Fireblocks will handle issuance and distribution for a euro-denominated stablecoin being developed by the Qivalis consortium, a group of 12 banks that includes Banca Sella, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, DZ BANK, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB, and UniCredit. The token, issued by Amsterdam-based Qivalis and regulated by the Dutch Central Bank, is slated for release in the second half of 2026 and will comply with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), the consortium said in a press release.
Why it matters
- Stablecoins remain overwhelmingly dollar-denominated: the market reached $305 billion in January 2026, but just $650 million of that was pegged to the euro. The Qivalis project is a coordinated push to rebalance that dominance with a regulated, euro-backed alternative.
- The euro is a major global currency (roughly $1.1 trillion in average daily FX volume), so a compliant, institution-grade euro stablecoin could unlock euro liquidity for DeFi, tokenized assets, payments and cross-border settlement inside a regulated framework.
Infrastructure and compliance
Fireblocks will provide the production-ready infrastructure to issue and distribute the token while meeting MiCAR requirements and integrating with existing banking systems. “Qivalis demonstrates how major financial institutions can work together to plan a compliant euro-backed stablecoins at scale – with production-ready infrastructure that will meet MiCAR requirements, handle institutional volumes, and integrate seamlessly with existing banking systems,” said Michael Shaulov, co-founder and CEO of Fireblocks.
The project signals a significant institutional bet on a regulated euro stablecoin becoming a mainstream plumbing layer for European crypto and banking activity — and a direct challenge to dollar-centric stablecoin dominance.
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