Nine European banks create a company to issue cryptocurrencies
Italian bank UniCredit and Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank International have announced that they will, together with seven other European banks, establish a company that will issue a “euro-denominated” cryptocurrency backed by traditional financial assets. In addition to UniCredit and Raiffeisen Bank International, the group also includes Belgian bank KBC, Danish bank Danske Bank, German DekaBank, Swedish SEB and Spanish CaixaBank, while it is possible that other banks will join.
The new company will be headquartered in the Netherlands and will operate under a license and supervision of the Dutch central bank as an electronic money institution.
The issuance of the cryptocurrency backed by traditional assets and “denominated in euro” is planned for the second half of 2026 and will be compliant with EU regulations for crypto-asset markets, enabling fast and low-cost payments.
Issuers link digital money to standard currencies like the dollar or euro, but also to gold and silver, to avoid sudden fluctuations in value.
Cryptocurrency offers the potential for efficient cross-border transactions, automated payments, and improvements in supply chain management and digital asset processing.
An additional incentive for the issuance of cryptocurrencies has come from the US, after President Trump, through the "GENIUS Act", required that any new cryptocurrency be 100 percent backed by liquid assets such as the dollar or short-term government bonds.
The consortium of nine European banks says it aims to create a European alternative to the cryptocurrency markets, which are currently dominated by the US. The move aims to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy in the field of payments.
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