Qivalis, a group of European banks building a regulated euro stablecoin, said Wednesday that 25 more lenders joined the initiative, more than tripling its membership as banks across the region deepen their push into blockchain finance.
The expansion brings the consortium to 37 financial institutions spanning 15 European countries. New members include ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Nordea, Erste Group and National Bank of Greece.
The expansion comes as tokenization gains traction among large financial institutions and asset managers, with stablecoins — crypto tokens whose value is pegged to a traditional asset such as a fiat currency — playing a key role in settlement and asset trades on blockchain rails.
The effort also reflects a broader push by European banks to expand the use of euro-denominated stablecoins and reduce dominance of U.S. dollar-backed tokens, which currently account for about 99% of the global stablecoin market.
The total stablecoin market capitalization is about $318 billion, dominated by Tether's USDT and Circle Internet's (CRCL) USDC. Together they account for more than 80% of the total.
Read more: Non-dollar stablecoins are struggling to crack 0.5% of market share
By building a regulated euro-based alternative, Qivalis aims to strengthen the single currency's role in digital payments and tokenized finance as blockchain settlement gains traction among institutions.
"This infrastructure is essential if Europe is to compete in the global digital economy whilst preserving its strategic autonomy," said Howard Davies, chairman of Qivalis' supervisory board.
The group plans to debut its euro-backed stablecoin in the second half of 2026 under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. It is also seeking an electronic money institution (EMI) license from the Dutch central bank.
With initiatives like Qivalis, euro stablecoins are projected to grow rapidly over the next few years. S&P Global Ratings projected that the euro stablecoin market could grow from roughly 770 million euros ($895 million) today to as much as 1.1 trillion euros by 2030, driven largely by tokenized finance and institutional adoption.
