European banks choose partners for stablecoin push under MiCA framework
European banks and corporations are now actively selecting infrastructure partners to launch stablecoins, as the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation shifts adoption from strategy to execution across the continent.
"In the past twelve months alone some of Europe's most stringent financial institutions are all arriving at the same conclusion, digital assets, including stablecoins, belong inside the existing banking stack, not beside it,” Lamine Brahimi, co-founder at Taurus, told Cointelegraph.
This move is underscored by a 109% increase in USDC volume on platforms like Paybis in the EU between October 2025 and March 2026. Major institutions including Societe Generale, with its EURCV stablecoin, and a consortium developing the Qivalis euro stablecoin, are leading the charge.
This integration of stablecoins into the banking stack is driven by corporate treasury needs for faster, 24/7 cross-border settlements. The trend could capture a significant portion of a market that Chainalysis projects could reach $719 trillion in transaction volumes by 2035.
The shift from educational discussions to live implementation has been rapid. According to Brahimi, conversations with financial firms just 18 months ago were focused on understanding risks. Today, those same firms have board-level approval and are preparing to launch products. The primary catalyst for this acceleration is MiCA, which replaces a patchwork of national laws with a single, clear regulatory regime for the entire bloc.
Demand is increasingly practical, originating from corporate clients seeking to optimize their treasury operations. "Once clients start asking for better settlement, more flexibility, or more efficient cross-border movement of value, the conversation becomes much more immediate and much more practical,” Brahimi added. This is reflected in user behavior, with stablecoin buy volumes on Paybis outstripping sell volumes by five to six times, and average transaction sizes running 15% to 35% larger than typical Bitcoin trades.
Several major European financial players are already making significant moves. ClearBank Europe recently became the first Dutch credit institution approved under MiCA to offer crypto services. Meanwhile, a consortium of banking giants including ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank, and BBVA is developing Qivalis, a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin for on-chain settlement. This follows earlier initiatives, like Societe Generale deploying its EURCV stablecoin on the Stellar network and Franco-German bank Oddo BHF launching its own euro-backed stablecoin.
The convergence of traditional and decentralized finance is creating a hybrid model where regulated institutions bring stability and compliance to digital assets. While total stablecoin market capitalization has remained steady according to DefiLlama data, the entrance of established banks is expected to deepen liquidity and accelerate innovation, potentially transforming cross-border payments and corporate cash management in the coming years.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Edgen Crypto·Feb 18 2026, 09:34
