Nine leading European banks are jointly developing a euro-based stablecoin, they announced on Thursday.
Stablecoins are digital currencies whose value is linked to stable assets in order to avoid price fluctuations, unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, for example, which can rise or fall sharply in value.
Like Bitcoin, the planned digital currency is based on blockchain technology, i.e. it relies on a publicly accessible digital cash book.
The banks involved in the project are Germany's DekaBank, UniCredit and Banca Sella from Italy, ING (Netherlands), CaixaBank (Spain), KBC (Belgium), SEB (Sweden), Danske Bank (Denmark) and Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria). Other banks may join the initiative later.
The stablecoin is scheduled to be introduced in the second half of 2026. It will comply with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCAR) and will enable fast, low-cost payments around the clock, a Deka spokesman said.
The stablecoin offers potential for efficient cross-border transactions, programmable payments and improvements in supply chain management and the processing of digital assets, from securities to cryptocurrencies.
To implement the plans, the consortium of nine banks has founded a new company in the Netherlands, which will be licensed and supervised by the Dutch central bank as an e-money institution.
The international stablecoin market is currently led by three U.S. providers: Tether (USDT), Circle (USDC) and Ripple (XRP).
U.S. President Donald Trump recently eased the regulatory conditions for these projects, but spoke out against a dollar-based digital currency. In Europe, however, the European Central Bank is planning a digital euro.
The Deka spokesman emphasized that the nine banks wanted to create a European alternative to the U.S.-dominated stablecoin markets, thereby strengthening Europe's strategic autonomy in payment transactions. At the same time, they can offer their customers additional services such as stablecoin wallets and custody solutions for digital assets.
