European banks, corporates pick partners for MiCA stablecoins

European banks and corporate treasury teams are selecting technology, custody and payments partners to launch stablecoins that comply with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Several institutions have received board approvals and are preparing production launches under the single EU regulatory framework.

Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner at custody firm Taurus, said discussions that were largely educational 18 months ago have become operational as firms move to integrate stablecoins with existing banking systems. “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,” he said.

A bank consortium including ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank and BBVA is developing Qivalis, a euro stablecoin for regulated on-chain payments and settlement. Societe Generale has designed stablecoins for cross-border payments, on-chain settlement, foreign exchange and cash management. Oddo BHF has launched a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin, and a group led by ING, UniCredit and BNP Paribas is targeting a Swiss-franc stablecoin pilot in the second half of 2026. ClearBank Europe has secured MiCA approval to operate as a crypto-asset service provider in the Netherlands.

Corporate treasury demand is a key driver. Treasury teams are asking banks for faster settlement, lower transaction costs and 24/7 availability for settlement, and they want tokenized liquidity and payments rails that meet regulatory requirements.

Data from payments platform Paybis shows USDC volume in the EU rose about 109% between October 2025 and March 2026, while USDC’s share of stablecoin activity on the platform climbed from roughly 13% to 32% over the same period. Paybis reported buy volume for stablecoins in the EU was roughly five to six times higher than sell volume during those months, and average stablecoin transaction sizes were 15% to 35% larger than typical Bitcoin or Ether trades. “That usually points to working capital, settlement use and more deliberate business flows,” said Konstantin Vasilenko, a Paybis co-founder.

Market forecasts from Chainalysis project stablecoin transaction volumes could reach about $719 trillion by 2035 in an organic growth scenario and rise to $1.5 quadrillion in an aggressive adoption case. Chainalysis estimated volumes at about $28 trillion in 2025.

Banks and vendors are prioritizing custody, compliance and integration. Firms are choosing custody providers, token issuers and payment infrastructure partners that can provide audited reserves, operational controls and connectivity with bank ledger systems. Projects are moving from pilot design to partner onboarding, regulatory approvals and building interfaces between on-chain flows and bank back-office systems.

Will Harborne, chief executive of stablecoin infrastructure provider Rhino.fi, said stablecoins will grow in importance for corporate treasury, cross-border settlement and FX between euro and dollar tokens, and advised businesses to prepare for broader acceptance.