Is Europe’s traditional finance circle finally making a move?

The news came rather suddenly—old-school financial institutions like ING from the Netherlands, BNP Paribas from France, and Germany’s Dekabank have actually joined forces to establish a new company called Qivalis. The goal is very clear: to launch a fully compliant euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026.

Honestly, this lineup is pretty impressive. The chairman is a veteran of the UK banking sector, the CEO was previously in charge of Germany at a compliant trading platform, and the CFO comes from ING's core digital assets team. They understand traditional rules, know how to operate on-chain, and are well aware of regulatory boundaries—a rare combination.

So how are they designing this? A 1:1 euro cash reserve plus high-quality euro bonds, all strictly under the EU’s MiCA crypto asset regulatory framework. Compared to those early, wild-growth stablecoins, this is the real deal—“licensed and regulated.”

How small is the euro stablecoin market right now? The total market cap is only about $64 million, completely dwarfed by USD stablecoins. But with Qivalis entering the scene, backed by support from the European Central Bank, there’s a real possibility it could run in parallel with the digital euro in the future.

What is Europe trying to achieve with this move? It’s pretty obvious:
They don’t want to rely on a US-dominated stablecoin system, want a bigger say in digital payments and crypto transactions, hope to cut cross-border payment costs, and want to pave a path for Europe’s digital economy that they can control.

Their plan is a three-step process: first become the core trading pair in crypto markets, then move into corporate cross-border payments, and finally expand to supply chain finance and other scenarios. The ambition is clear—the only question is whether they can deliver.

So here’s the question—
Is Europe really going all-in this time, or will it be all talk and no action? Can a euro stablecoin actually shake USDT’s dominance? What do you all think?