Qivalis is gaining momentum. According to our information, 19 banks across 12 European countries have formally “committed” to join the euro stablecoin banking consortium.
The list reviewed by Blockstories includes the French banks Crédit Mutuel and Groupe BPCE, France’s third-largest banking group, which launched its retail crypto offering in December via its subsidiary Hexarq.
ABN AMRO, Helaba, Nordea Bank, and Erste Group are also among the new entrants. Spain makes a notable entry as well, with five participants: Bankinter and Abanca, alongside the three MiCA-authorized CASPs Cecabank, Banco Sabadell, and Kutxabank.
The number of new members could still rise to 23, according to our information, as four additional banks are awaiting “final internal approval”.
In an email to Blockstories, Qivalis confirmed that it is in ongoing discussions with several institutions.
“As an open consortium with currently 12 member banks, we are committed to expanding our network and are in ongoing discussions with several institutions. Any list or number of banks is, at this stage, premature. We expect to provide an update in early summer,” Qivalis said.
Soon more than 30 bank members?
With 19 new members set to join, the consortium’s total membership would rise to 31.
Initially, nine banks, including ING, UniCredit, and DekaBank, were announced at the consortium’s launch in September. In December, BNP Paribas, the eurozone’s largest bank, which the consortium had been courting for several months, finally decided to join. DZ Bank and BBVA followed in January and February, respectively.
This momentum comes as the consortium aims to create a “common infrastructure that banks can build on, rather than having many competing instruments, and to ensure broad distribution,” explained Floris Lugt, formerly at ING and now Qivalis’ CFO, in an interview with Blockstories in September.
Qivalis is still in the process of obtaining an e-money institution license from the Dutch Central Bank. It plans to issue the euro stablecoin as a standalone company, with launch targeted for H2 2026.
A few weeks ago, the consortium announced that it had selected Fireblocks as its infrastructure partner for the issuance, distribution, and lifecycle management of the stablecoin.
Experimenting collectively
The new cohort, largely composed of small and mid-sized banks, reflects a growing sense of urgency around stablecoins.
“Many small and mid-sized banks will never have the resources required to build and scale their own token. Joining the consortium is therefore a very attractive option for them,” an executive at one of the new members told Blockstories.
He also pointed to internal hesitation around partnering with crypto-native issuers, whose benefits remain unclear to many banks and which are increasingly viewed as potential future competitors.
Participating in a collective industry initiative is also seen as a more comfortable way to begin experimenting with stablecoins, even among the largest banking groups on this list, several bankers told Blockstories.
This approach contrasts with the more individual strategies pursued by other European banks, such as Société Générale, which launched its euro stablecoin (EURCV) as early as April 2023, followed by a dollar stablecoin (USDCV) in June 2025 via its blockchain subsidiary, SG-FORGE, regulated as an electronic money institution.
In August 2024, Banking Circle became the first to launch a stablecoin (EURI) under a banking license, followed by ODDO BHF in October 2025. And as we reported a few weeks ago, French banking group Crédit Agricole is also preparing to launch a euro stablecoin, with a target launch set for this summer.