Nine EU Banks Unite to Issue a MiCA-Compliant Euro Stablecoin by 2026

Key points

• Nine banks from eight countries formed a Dutch company to issue a euro-pegged stablecoin, fully backed by reserves and MiCA-compliant.

• Launch targeted for H2 2026; use cases include instant, low-cost cross-border payments and on-chain settlement.

• The group says the project supports European payment sovereignty while welcoming additional member banks.

A coalition of nine European banks, ING (Netherlands), UniCredit (Italy), CaixaBank (Spain), Danske Bank (Denmark), Banca Sella (Italy), KBC (Belgium), DekaBank (Germany), SEB (Sweden), and Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria), has created a new Amsterdam-based company to issue a euro-denominated stablecoin under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime.

The token is slated for the second half of 2026 and will be pegged 1:1 to the euro with full reserve backing under an e-money license supervised by the Dutch central bank.

The banks pitch the coin as a 24/7, low-cost rail for cross-border payments and settlement, with programmable features that can automate treasury flows, supply-chain milestones, and asset-market operations.

Beyond retail P2P, the token is intended as plumbing for tokenized securities and crypto trading, giving institutions a European-issued settlement asset on public or permissioned chains.

The move follows months of reporting that ING and partners were exploring a MiCA-aligned consortium. Today’s reveal puts a timeline and roster behind those plans, with the consortium open to additional banks and a management appointment expected after regulatory steps.

How it fits with other European projects

This private initiative is separate from the ECB’s Digital Euro, a proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC). The ECB says any issuance decision awaits EU legislation, with officials floating 2029 as a possible go-live if laws are finalized and implementation proceeds.

The CBDC would function as a public money wallet, while the bank stablecoin would be private money under e-money rules.

It also differs from Wero, the European Payments Initiative wallet that runs on SEPA Instant account-to-account rails (no blockchain). Wero launched P2P in 2024 and is adding e-commerce in 2025, with point-of-sale and other features on its roadmap. The bank stablecoin would target on-chain use cases that Wero does not cover.

Competitive landscape

European banks are not first to a MiCA-compliant euro token. SG-FORGE launched EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) earlier, and Banking Circle introduced EURI, a bank-backed MiCA e-money token, although adoption has been modest compared with dollar stablecoins. The new consortium aims to change that by pooling distribution and integration across multiple major banks.