Nine established European banks have come together to create a euro-backed stablecoin, as per an official press release by ING.
Alongside ING, other European banks that will be participating in the venture include Banca Sella, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, UniCredit, SEB, Caixabank, and Raffeisen Bank International.
The stablecoin will be MiCAR-compliant and is expected to help settle cross-border payments at low cost, with a planned issue to take place in the second half of 2026. For purposes of managing the consortium’s offering, an e-money institution will be created in the Netherlands.
“Digital payments are key for new euro-denominated payments and financial market infrastructure. They offer significant efficiency and transparency, thanks to blockchain technology’s programmability features and 24/7 instant cross-currency settlement,” said ING Digital Assets lead Floris Lugt.
“We believe this development requires an industry-wide approach, and it’s imperative that banks adopt the same standards,” he also said
In terms of stablecoin offerings, the U.S. still leads with Tether, Circle, World Liberty Financial, and other firms holding the largest shares of market capitalization.
According to DWF Ventures, the stablecoin’s total market capitalization is nearing $300 billion, which, at the current market capitalization of crypto of $3.83 trillion as per coinmarketcap’s latest measure, makes stablecoins account for roughly 8% of the crypto market.