A new euro stablecoin is about to hit the market, and it’s not coming from another European banking consortium, but from Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payments platform with 1.3 billion users.

Deep in ESMA’s registries, we found a new ticker, BREUR, quietly added without any announcement (see our license tracker for more information).

Alipay’s parent, Ant Group, is no stranger to tokenized money. Its subsidiary Ant International was the first client of HSBC’s Tokenized Deposit Service and has been working with Citi, JPMorgan, and Deutsche Bank on similar projects.

And since we’re already talking about Ant International, here’s one more overlooked detail: They’re also building a dedicated Layer 2 called Jovay, purpose-built for tokenization.

Today, we also talk about:

• RL1: A new European blockchain initiative

• Exclusive: France’s financial lobby to explore fractional-reserve stablecoins

“Europe Needs a Unified Capital Markets DLT” — The Regulated Layer 1 (RL1) Aims to Deliver It

Exclusive: France’s Top Financial Lobby Will Examine Path to Bring Stablecoins Into Fractional-Reserve Banking

Stablecoins with fractional reserves? According to internal documents reviewed by Blockstories, Paris Europlace is going to examine how stablecoin reserves could be integrated into the fractional-reserve system, allowing part of those reserves to be lent out like traditional deposits. The objective is to make stablecoins more compatible with the banking model and potentially remove one of the main barriers to their adoption by financial institutions.

• Why it matters: Paris Europlace is France’s leading financial lobby, representing more than 600 members, including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, and Société Générale. Its policy papers often foreshadow France’s position in European regulatory debates. The discussions come as Société Générale last week became the first bank to deploy its euro (EURCV) and dollar (USDCV) stablecoins in decentralized finance.

A case already under discussion: According to sources familiar with the matter, one of the main triggers for the current debate was a recent filing by a French bank to issue a euro stablecoin, which prompted internal discussions on whether such reserves could, at least in part, be treated like bank deposits.

Business model clash: Under current regulation, banks are hesitant to issue stablecoins because doing so would force them into a full-reserve regime, where each token must be backed 1:1 by liquid assets. That structure, required under Europe’s MiCA and the U.S. GENIUS Act, removes one of the core profit engines of banking: the ability to lend against deposits.

Systemic implications: Beyond undermining part of banks’ business models, a full-reserve model also is a major concern for supervisors, who see it as a potential threat to the banking system’s capacity to extend credit.

• “The problem with stablecoins is that they don’t circulate money as efficiently as traditional banks, since their reserves must always fully match the number of units issued. Allowing part of those reserves to be integrated into the fractional-reserve system would help mitigate this limitation,” explained the Head of Digital Assets at one of Europe’s largest banks.

Numerous questions remain: Allowing stablecoin reserves to be lent out would blur the line between banking and token issuance, introducing potential bank run risks and liquidity mismatches.

• “The purpose of this work is to assess the conditions under which such a model could operate safely,” one participant told Blockstories.

Enhancing stablecoins: Europlace is also exploring how financial regulations could be amended to recognize stablecoins as equivalent to cash, allowing any type of debt to be repaid in stablecoins.

• “This would notably make it possible to avoid converting them back into traditional currency,” the same source added.

What’s next: According to our information, Paris Europlace plans to convene several technical meetings starting in October, with conclusions expected to feed into a formal report — a process that typically lasts several months. Such reports often shape the lobby’s official stance and can influence future amendments to European banking rules or to MiCA.

• Double down: The initiative follows Europlace’s first policy paper on stablecoins, published last week, which for the first time recommended analyzing euro stablecoin issuance by EU-based banks and aligning EU and U.S. rules on stablecoin yield redistribution.

1. Real-World Assets: The Practitioner’s Guide (Rebank × Libeara) — An in-depth look at how traditional assets move onchain, outlining key use cases, regulatory hurdles, and the infrastructure enabling institutional adoption of tokenized finance.

2. ERC-3643 Tokens for Derivative Collateralization — A study exploring how ERC-3643 tokens — a standard originally developed by Tokeny, now part of Apex Group — can serve as compliant collateral for onchain OTC derivatives, enabling automated settlement, margining, and risk management through smart contracts.

3. The Convergence of AI and Distributed Ledger Technology (Clifford Chance × Deutsche Bank) — A report on how AI and blockchain can complement each other, enabling smarter contracts and data use while raising new legal and regulatory challenges.