There are many ways to track momentum in digital assets. One is to explore our freshly launched European Banks & Digital Assets Tracker (shameless plug). Another is to count how many central banks are publishing statements on tokenization and stablecoins in a given month.

By that measure, the past few weeks have been unusually busy. The Bank of England laid out its long-term vision for a hybrid financial system. The BIS doubled down on its skepticism toward stablecoins. The ECB formalized its dual-track approach. And the Banque de France highlighted potential risks around tokenized money market funds.

To round it all out, we’re also covering the Bank of Korea’s recent shift today.

Plus, we’ll talk about:

• BBVA rolls out crypto services for retail in Spain

• Exclusive: AllUnity’s strategy for their euro stablecoin

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Exclusive: AllUnity CTO on the Strategy and Vision for EURAU, Europe’s Newest Stablecoin

A new euro stablecoin: Last week, German euro-stablecoin company AllUnity was granted an E-Money Institution (EMI) license by German regulator BaFin. Formed as a joint venture between Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS, Galaxy, and Flow Traders, the license clears the way for AllUnity to launch its euro stablecoin, EURAU, within the next two to three weeks.

Interview: Following this regulatory approval, we sat down with Peter Grosskopf, CTO/COO at AllUnity, to talk about their vision and strategy for EURAU.

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On the macro case for euro stablecoins:

• “Dollar stablecoins have massive product-market fit. But I don’t believe we’ll live in a world where every transaction, even in Europe, is settled in dollars. As stablecoins become embedded in real-world financial flows — business payments, tokenized securities, onchain accounts — local currencies will matter again. We’re betting on that structural shift. It’s already underway.”

On AllUnity's strategic positioning as a European issuer:

• “While U.S.-based issuers like Circle have built impressive infrastructure, we’re seeing growing skepticism in Europe around relying on American partners, especially in the current political climate. That’s why having European roots and trusted institutional backers gives us a meaningful head start.”

What the three key shareholders bring to the table:

• “Our shareholder base mirrors the dual timelines we’re navigating. DWS brings the credibility and long-term vision from traditional finance. Galaxy is native to crypto and understands how to drive adoption now. Flow Traders sits in the middle, helping us bridge both. It’s part of our strategy to be relevant both today in crypto-native markets and in the tokenized financial system of tomorrow.”

On the licensing and launch timeline:

• “Getting the license was an important milestone, but now the real work begins. We’ve formally initiated the MiCA process. That includes declaring our launch to the regulator and preparing the required whitepaper. Our aim is to go live in the second half of July, and we're on track.”

On AllUnity’s two-phased go-to-market strategy:

• “Our go-to-market is deliberately phased. We’re starting by bootstrapping liquidity through partnerships with exchanges and market makers. That’s the priority for Q3. DeFi comes next: we expect our first protocol integrations to happen in Q4, once we’ve built the relevance and volume to make those conversations productive. Then over the next 2–3 years, I can see us expand naturally into emerging stablecoin use cases like B2B payments, settlement for tokenized assets, and fintech integrations.”

How AllUnity thinks about partnerships with banks:

• “Our first touchpoint with banks is typically through transaction and reserve accounts which MiCA requires us to diversify. But these relationships can quickly evolve. A bank that holds reserves for us might also become a user or distribution partner. And while stablecoins are often framed as a threat to banks, I think that MiCA actually creates a complementary setup. Banks continue to hold the deposits, can engage in fractional reserve banking, earn yield, and act as brokers for our required HQLA investments. In many ways, our business models stack on top of each other rather than compete.”

On the long-term product vision beyond issuance:

• “We’re starting laser-focused: minting, redeeming, and compliance. That’s the foundation. But our long-term ambition goes far beyond that. We don’t want to just be a stablecoin issuer. We want to build the platform layer for regulated digital money in Europe. There are several product ideas in development, but for now we’re focused on earning our place in the market.”

South Korea Puts CBDC on Hold as Stablecoin Push Accelerates

CBDC put on hold: The Bank of Korea (BoK) has officially postponed the second phase of its wholesale CBDC pilot, Project Han River. While discussions may resume in mid-2026, participating banks are already pivoting. A new consortium is forming to explore the launch of won-denominated stablecoins.

High-cost trial, unclear outlook: The decision follows a costly first phase that involved 100,000 users and required an estimated $26 million in spending by participating banks. With no clear path to commercialization, several institutions raised concerns about the viability of the project.

New stablecoin legislation: This skepticism appears to be shared by the BoK itself. In June, newly elected president Lee Jae-Myung introduced the Digital Asset Basic Act, a legislative package aimed at regulating stablecoins. The central bank responded by stating it would wait and see how the situation develops.

Korean central bank sidelined: The draft law would allow non-bank entities to issue stablecoins and, more significantly, assign supervisory authority to the Financial Services Commission instead of the BoK. This suggests a shift in institutional control over digital currency initiatives.

Stablecoin filings coming in: Meanwhile, Korea’s largest banks and fintechs are already taking positions. More than a dozen have filed applications for stablecoin-related trademarks in recent weeks.

• Bank consortium: Among them is KB Kookmin Bank, the country’s largest bank, which joined a group of seven other banks building a shared infrastructure for issuing compliant, won-backed stablecoins. Each bank would be able to issue its own branded token using the common platform.

• Stock market frenzy: Some of the trademark activity may also be driven by market momentum. Shares of publicly listed companies that filed for stablecoin trademarks saw jumps of 10 to 20 percent.

BoK wants back in: In response to the recent surge of interest, the Bank of Korea this week proposed the creation of a national committee to oversee stablecoin issuance. The proposed body would have the authority to determine which institutions are permitted to launch such digital assets.

• “Given this new demand, we definitely have to recalibrate the plan,” BoK Governor Rhee Chang-yong told The Korea Herald.

Lingering concerns: Despite its willingness to engage, the Bank of Korea continues to voice strong reservations. In their recent Financial Stability Report, it warned that allowing private firms to issue stablecoins could undermine monetary sovereignty, destabilize the financial system, and complicate capital flow management.

Yesterday we launched the European Banks & Digital Assets Tracker, a comprehensive database that tracks the blockchain activities at European Banks.

Starting with 5 countries (Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein), we’re tracking 300+ activities at 39 banks.

In the coming months, we’ll add more countries, more data, and more features building toward the most useful intelligence tool on how financial institutions and their partners are engaging with digital assets.

We’d love your feedback. If you have ideas, spot something missing, or want to collaborate, just hit reply.

→ Explore the database at data.blockstories.io 

1. A Statement on the Tokenization of Securities (SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce) — Peirce urges clarity and pragmatism on tokenized securities, reminding the market that while blockchain adds efficiencies, securities laws still apply. Highlights risks around third-party token wrappers and invites firms to engage with the SEC on tailored exemptions.

2. Blockchains as Emerging Economies (Fidelity Institutional) — Fidelity presents a novel “digital GDP” framework to assess blockchains like Ethereum as standalone economies.

3. Internet Capital Markets (Helius) — A blog post exploring equity tokenization and Solana as the backbone of "internet‑native" finance.