- The first issuance, planned for the second half of 2026, will facilitate the future development of new fast, affordable and secure payment services.
- Elena Carrera, Director of Operations and Technology at Banco Sabadell, said: “Qivalis is an excellent business opportunity and will allow us to continue learning about blockchain technology, which has enormous transformative potential. Participating in Qivalis will enable us to implement use cases with stablecoins in the future, which will benefit our clients, both individuals and businesses.”
- The company will be supervised by the central bank of the Netherlands and its digital currency will comply with the requirements of the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MICA).
Banco Sabadell It has joined Qivalis, the consortium of major European financial institutions created at the end of last year to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in a regulated and supervised environment within the EU. The electronic money token, whose first issuance is planned for the second half of 2026, will allow banks to develop new, fast, cost-effective, and secure payment services in the future using blockchain technology, as well as new clearing and settlement functionalities for digital assets.
La Elena Carrera, Director General of Operations and Technology at Banco Sabadell, has highlighted: “Banco Sabadell has been monitoring and evaluating potential opportunities in the digital asset sector for some time. Qivalis is an excellent business opportunity and will help us continue learning about blockchain technology, which has enormous transformative potential.”
“Participating in Qivalis will allow us to implement use cases with 'stablecoins' in the future that will benefit our customers, both individuals and companies,” Carrera pointed out.
Qivalis expects to obtain authorization soon from central bank of the Netherlands to operate as an electronic money institution. Once all regulatory and technological developments are complete, the consortium plans to begin issuing its stablecoin (electronic money tokens designed to maintain a stable value and avoid the volatility of other crypto assets) in the second half of this year. It will be fully backed by euro reserves (at a 1:1 ratio) and fully compliant with the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MICA).
Among its potential uses, Qivalis highlights the ability to facilitate instant, low-cost cross-border payments, available 24/7 and with the option to be scheduled. Furthermore, the transfer of tokenized and digitized assets, such as bonds, can be settled automatically, reducing counterparty risk.
Expansion of the consortium
With the addition of Banco Sabadell and 24 other entities, Qivalis now has 37 financial institutions as members and has extended its network to 15 European countries.“We are delighted to welcome 25 new partners to the Qivalis consortium.”, has declared CEO, Jan-Oliver Sell.
“This expansion represents a giant leap towards an open and compliant euro on-chain ecosystem and demonstrates that most European entities have already prioritized native euro on-chain settlement in their digital asset roadmap. The euro is Europe’s currency, and the on-chain financial infrastructure must support it: built by European institutions and governed by European rules.”, has pointed.
Strategic autonomy
Stablecoins are experiencing significant growth, with an estimated market capitalization exceeding $290.000 billion (over €246.000 billion). Despite this, it is estimated that only 0,2% of the global circulation of these digital currencies is due to euro-pegged stablecoins, while the euro accounts for between 20% and 25% of global transactions in traditional currencies.
This makes a project like Qivalis particularly timely, as it seeks to facilitate the construction of an indigenous, interoperable digital infrastructure for the European financial sector, capable of reaching the necessary scale, thanks to the combined efforts of the 37 member banks of the consortium.
“This infrastructure is essential if Europe wants to compete in the global digital economy while preserving its strategic autonomy.”, has pointed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Qivalis, Sir Howard Davies.
“We are not simply building payment rails; we are ensuring that European principles—regarding data protection, financial stability, and regulatory rigor—are embedded in the next generation of digital money. Efficiency in financial infrastructure is ultimately a matter of sovereignty. The role of the euro in the euro area monetary system will increasingly depend on whether it is present—as the primary settlement currency—on the rails through which global value moves.”, has indicated.
