USDBNP Paribas Steps Into European Bank-Led Stablecoin Push as Qivalis Targets 2026 Launch
Consortium Expands to Ten Banks and Prepares MiCAR-Regulated Euro Token
TL;DR
- BNP Paribas joined Qivalis, a 10-bank consortium building a regulated euro-pegged stablecoin.
- Launch planned for H2 2026 pending MiCAR licensing as a Dutch Electronic Money Institution.
- Executives from Coinbase Germany, ING, and NatWest anchor leadership as banks target institutional-grade digital payments and tokenized-asset settlement.
BNP Paribas has joined a growing coalition of major European banks backing Qivalis, a newly formed venture aiming to issue a euro-denominated stablecoin under full EU regulatory oversight. The initiative, announced on December 2, 2025, expands the founding roster—ING, UniCredit, Banca Sella, KBC, DekaBank, Danske Bank, SEB, CaixaBank, and Raiffeisen Bank International—to a ten-bank consortium with ambitions to create a compliant digital payment asset built for cross-border speed, institutional settlement, and programmable finance. Qivalis plans to operate from Amsterdam as it pursues authorization under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, filing for classification as a Dutch Electronic Money Institution, with approval expected to take six to nine months.
Leadership has become a central part of the venture’s credibility push. Former Coinbase Germany head Jan-Oliver Sell now leads Qivalis as CEO, joined by CFO Floris Lugt, who previously oversaw digital assets at ING, while former UK banking regulator and NatWest chair Howard Davies heads the supervisory board. Lugt framed the business case for a bank-issued stablecoin by arguing that digital payments “offer significant efficiency and transparency” due to blockchain’s programmability and around-the-clock settlement features. The group positions Qivalis as both a payment instrument and a settlement layer for tokenized assets, aiming to serve retail customers, corporate treasuries, and financial institutions that increasingly handle blockchain-based assets.
Development remains at an early operational stage but is moving quickly. Qivalis expects to hire 45 to 50 employees over the next 18 to 24 months, with roughly one-third of that headcount already filled. The launch window is currently set for the second half of 2026, assuming regulatory approval arrives on schedule. The banks backing the venture argue that Europe needs a domestically issued, fully regulated euro stablecoin to reduce dependence on U.S. dollar-based tokens and preserve what they describe as the region’s financial sovereignty. Market data underscores the scale of the opportunity: global stablecoin transaction volume reached roughly $5.7 trillion last year and may approach $8 trillion by the end of 2025, while earlier European attempts at euro-pegged tokens struggled to gain traction, with one prior offering capped around €56.2 million to €64 million in circulation.
Regulatory scrutiny remains a factor. The European Central Bank continues to warn that privately issued stablecoins carry potential risks to monetary policy and is simultaneously advancing work on the digital euro as a central-bank alternative. Even so, the consortium has left the door open for additional banks to join, signaling an intent to turn Qivalis into a pan-European standard rather than a single-issuer experiment. The project marks one of the most coordinated attempts by traditional financial institutions to enter a market long dominated by U.S. players, and its progress will determine whether a regulated euro stablecoin can achieve institutional-level adoption after years of false starts.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
