Qivalis Expands Euro Stablecoin Consortium to 37 Banks
Qivalis, an Amsterdam-based joint venture developing a fully regulated MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin, has expanded its consortium to include 25 new banks.
With this expansion, the Qivalis consortium now comprises 37 banks across 15 European countries, including major names such as ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Nordea, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Sabadell, and Bankinter.
Created in early December last year, the Qivalis consortium is a group of European banks that came together to develop a stablecoin pegged to the euro. By launching a euro-pegged stablecoin, Qivalis aimed to create a credible and regulated alternative to the widely used United States dollar stablecoin.
The Qivalis euro-backed stablecoin would also eliminate the need for European banks to launch competing bank-issued stablecoins, as it is interoperable and fully compliant with MiCA across the European Union and the European Economic Area.
The consortium is currently pursuing an Electronic Money Institution license from De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank, with plans to launch a euro-backed stablecoin in the second half of this year.
The State of the Stablecoin Market
The stablecoin market continues to grow significantly, with more traditional finance institutions entering and tapping into the expanding sector. According to a recent report, total stablecoin liquidity, or market capitalization, has crossed $320 billion, with US dollar-backed stablecoins accounting for about 95% of the market.
Tether (USDT) remains the most widely used US dollar-backed stablecoin, accounting for about 57.96% of the market, or approximately $ 185 billion in market capitalization. USD Coin (USDC) follows, accounting for about 24% of the market and having a market capitalization of roughly $78-79 billion.
The euro-denominated stablecoin market still represents a small fraction of the global stablecoin market. According to CoinGecko, euro-denominated stablecoins have a combined market capitalization of roughly $670 million, with EURC from Circle and EURS from Stasis being the two most prominent, with market caps of $436 million and $145 million, respectively.