Thirty-seven European banks across 15 countries are preparing to launch a regulated euro stablecoin through Qivalis, an Amsterdam-based joint venture that has received authorization from De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands. Ripple, whose custody technology is already used by two European banks, says the consortium's planned launch will also require participating institutions to establish custody and governance systems, and points to its existing work with BBVA and DZ BANK as examples of those arrangements.

Qivalis Secures Authorization as Euro Stablecoins Grow

Qivalis received authorization from De Nederlandsche Bank as an electronic money institution, a supervised license category that permits firms to issue electronic money. The consortium plans to issue its stablecoin in the coming months, pending the regulator's review of its white paper. The token will maintain one-to-one backing with the euro and target payments, settlement, and tokenized assets.

The group began with 12 founding banks and has since expanded to 37 institutions. Meanwhile, euro stablecoin market capitalization in Europe grew from approximately €50 million in early 2024 to €450 million by January 2026. That total remains small compared with the roughly $300 billion dollar-denominated stablecoin market, a contrast that highlights how early-stage the euro-denominated segment remains.

Ripple Vice President and Managing Director Cassie Craddock said the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the bloc's framework for crypto-asset issuers and service providers, has given European banks regulatory clarity, noting that the regulation does not provide the infrastructure banks need to custody digital assets (Ripple Insights).

Banks Face Custody and Governance Requirements

Qivalis will manage issuance, backing, and redemption under its own authorizations and technology. Individual banks must still decide how to safeguard clients' holdings and demonstrate regulatory controls to supervisors. They can manage custody internally or delegate it to an external provider, a choice that will shape how the consortium's operational arrangements take form once the token is live.

Ripple says its custody platform integrates with existing banking and back-office systems through APIs, while its policy controls manage access, approvals, separation of duties, and jurisdictional requirements.

BBVA and DZ BANK Already Use Ripple Custody

BBVA and DZ BANK already use Ripple Custody within their banking operations, providing working examples of the custody arrangements facing banks that intend to support Qivalis's planned euro stablecoin.

DZ BANK, which holds €350 billion in assets under custody, uses the platform for crypto securities. Its work includes custody of a Siemens tokenized bond involving Union Investment.

BBVA launched crypto trading and custody services in Spain in July 2025 under MiCA and also operates services in Switzerland and Türkiye. The bank retains its cryptographic keys and control over client assets.

Both institutions integrated custody into their existing banking systems rather than creating separate operating environments, an approach that addresses the custody and governance requirements tied to Qivalis's planned launch. The near-term markers to watch are procedural: DNB's review of the white paper, issuance in the coming months, and the custody decisions—internal or delegated—that individual institutions make as the launch approaches.