French banking group ODDO BHF has launched EUROD, a euro-backed stablecoin. The token acts as a compliant digital model of the euro underneath the EU’s new MiCA regime.
The 175-year-old lender’s transfer reveals how conventional banks are increasing into regulated blockchain-based finance.
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French Financial institution Enters the Digital Asset Market
ODDO BHF, which manages greater than €150 billion in belongings, mentioned the token will listing on Madrid-based change Bit2Me, backed by Telefónica, BBVA, and Unicaja. Bit2Me holds registration underneath Spain’s CNMV and was one of many first exchanges licensed underneath MiCA. The license lets the platform broaden throughout the EU.
The financial institution teamed up with infrastructure supplier Fireblocks to deal with custody and settlements. It points EUROD on the Polygon community to allow sooner and cheaper transactions. The token fully depends on euro reserves and undergoes exterior audits. Bit2Me CEO Leif Ferreira mentioned the itemizing “bridges traditional banking with blockchain rails” as Europe embraces regulated digital belongings.
MiCA Framework and Stability Dangers
The Markets in Crypto-Property Regulation (MiCA), carried out this yr, requires issuers to keep up one-to-one reserves and assure redemption. It additionally enforces robust governance and transparency requirements. EUROD’s rollout will check how nicely MiCA can harmonize digital-asset oversight throughout the EU.
European Central Financial institution (ECB) President Christine Lagarde just lately warned that overseas stablecoins with out “robust equivalence regimes” may set off reserve runs within the eurozone. In a letter to the European Parliament, she urged lawmakers to restrict issuance to EU-authorized corporations. She cited the collapse of TerraUSD as proof of the dangers from unregulated initiatives.
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Euro-pegged stablecoins have doubled in market cap this yr. Circle’s EURC leads the market, climbing to about $270 million, based on information from CoinGecko. EURC now dominates the sector, whereas bank-issued tokens similar to SocGen’s EUR CoinVertible appeal to much less demand underneath MiCA.
ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf argued that Europe should transfer sooner on innovation or danger “erosion of monetary sovereignty.” The European Systemic Danger Board (ESRB) warned that multi-issuer schemes—the place EU and non-EU corporations launch the identical stablecoin—may import systemic danger and wish tighter oversight.
Regardless of these warnings, MiCA’s readability is driving competitors. Société Générale-FORGE launched its euro stablecoin EURCV, whereas Deutsche Börse partnered with Circle so as to add EURC and USDC to its buying and selling programs. 9 European banks—together with ING, CaixaBank, and Danske—shaped a Dutch consortium to situation a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin by 2026, with Citigroup later becoming a member of the coalition earlier than its deliberate launch within the second half of that yr.
In the meantime, ten G7 lenders, together with Citi and Deutsche Financial institution, discover multi-currency stablecoins to modernize settlement processes and increase world liquidity.
Outlook for EUROD and the Euro Stablecoin Market
Euro-backed stablecoins nonetheless symbolize a small share—beneath $574 million in complete capitalization—in contrast with over $160 billion in dollar-pegged tokens. Regulators count on euro-denominated belongings to strengthen monetary sovereignty if managed transparently.
For ODDO BHF, EUROD marks a strategic transfer to draw institutional purchasers by means of compliance and belief. Its development will hinge on adoption by cost suppliers and traders in search of a dependable euro different within the digital economic system.
