BBVA has become the 12th member of Qivalis, a European banking alliance developing a MiCA-compliant EUR - pegged stablecoin, aiming for commercial rollout in the second half of 2026.
Spain's second-largest bank, BBVA, has officially joined Qivalis, a consortium of European banks developing a euro- Peg , fully compliant stablecoin. This move marks the latest effort by the traditional banking sector to challenge the dominance of USD Peg stablecoins in the global market, which is worth approximately $300 billion.
Qivalis is a joint venture based in Amsterdam, operating under the European Union's Cryptocurrency Framework (MiCA). Its core objective is to issue a shared stablecoin, enabling European banks to offer a new payment solution and the ability to clear Tokenize financial assets via blockchain technology. The project aims for commercial launch in the second half of 2026, after completing its technical and legal development phases.
Alicia Pertusa, Head of Partnerships and Innovation at BBVA CIB, describes this as a “collaboration between banks” aimed at building common standards to support the transformation of the future banking model, while delivering financial innovation to customers in a consistent and practical way. BBVA contributes its extensive experience accumulated over many years of research and development of use cases related to crypto assets.
The challenge to the dominance of USD stablecoins.
The alliance was initially formed by nine banks at the end of 2025 and has expanded steadily since then. In addition to BBVA, current members include Banca Sella, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, DZ BANK, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB, and UniCredit. Jan Oliver Sell, CEO of Qivalis, believes BBVA's participation strengthens the ability to provide institutional-grade, highly durable on-chain infrastructure serving businesses and consumers across Europe and globally.
One of the main drivers is challenging the dominance of USD Peg stablecoins like USDT and USDC, which currently account for a large share of the global stablecoin market. Although euro-backed stablecoins exist, their market share remains very small. Qivalis is XEM as a bank-led effort to enhance European financial autonomy, reduce reliance on USD-based crypto assets, and promote strategic independence in the digital finance sector.
The initiative aims to provide secure and efficient payment, clearing, and crypto asset solutions within Europe with faster processing speeds and lower costs, enabling near-instantaneous euro-based transactions on the blockchain. The project also facilitates traditional banks to compete in the blockchain space without abandoning stringent legal compliance requirements, thereby offering a higher level of trust and lower risk compared to some issuers with purely crypto asset origins.
