A consortium of twelve major European banks is advancing plans to launch Qivalis, a MiCA‑compliant, euro‑denominated stablecoin targeted for the second half of 2026, positioning it as a bank‑grade alternative to existing private and non‑EU stablecoins. The group has selected digital asset infrastructure provider Fireblocks to power issuance, custody and tokenization, and is engaging with crypto exchanges to secure secondary‑market liquidity and 24/7 on‑chain redemption. Qivalis is designed as an e‑money token under the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA), meaning it must be fully backed by safeguarded euro reserves, issued by regulated institutions, and offer at‑par redemption for fiat euros at any time. MiCA’s stablecoin rules, in force since June 2025, require euro‑pegged tokens serving EU users to be issued by licensed entities with strict reserve, transparency and redemption obligations. The Qivalis consortium, which includes banks such as ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank, BBVA, BNP Paribas and DZ Bank, is aiming to build a regulated on‑chain settlement asset for payments and capital markets use cases, competing with existing MiCA‑aligned products like Banking Circle’s EURI and Circle’s EURC. The initiative matters because it signals a strategic move by incumbent European banks into tokenized money, aligning with regulators’ preference for supervised institutions to issue widely used stablecoins in the EU. By coordinating with crypto exchanges ahead of launch, the consortium is trying to ensure that Qivalis is not only compliant but also liquid and usable in decentralized finance, trading, and cross‑platform settlement from day one, potentially reshaping the euro stablecoin landscape and reducing reliance on non‑European issuers.

AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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