Qivalis, a European banking consortium now spanning 37 lenders across 15 countries, has secured an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from De Nederlandsche Bank on October 14, 2026. The milestone clears the way for the Amsterdam-based group to roll out a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026.
🔑 Key takeaways
- Qivalis received an EMI license from the Dutch central bank DNB on October 14, 2026
- The consortium now counts 37 member banks spread across 15 European countries
- The planned euro stablecoin will be 1:1 backed by the euro, interest-free, and MiCA-compliant
- Issuance remains conditional on the prior publication of a regulatory white paper
- The project aims to counter the dollar’s grip on stablecoins, which captures 99.8% of transactions
An EMI license under DNB oversight
After months of regulatory preparation, Qivalis has been granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank. The license, issued on October 14, 2026, authorizes the company to issue Electronic Money Tokens (EMT) denominated in euros and backed 1:1 by the single currency. Holders will be able to redeem them at face value at any time, in line with the requirements of the European Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA), which also bans the payment of interest on EMTs.
Before any actual issuance, Qivalis will still need to publish a white paper detailing the token’s technical and legal characteristics, as required by MiCA. The company is targeting a launch in the second half of 2026, with distribution via member banks, major crypto trading venues and payment service providers.
A European consortium in rapid expansion
Founded on September 25, 2025 by nine European banks — Banca Sella, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB and UniCredit — the consortium has expanded significantly since then. BNP Paribas officially joined the alliance on December 1, 2025, bringing the number of founding members to ten, before the group grew to its current 37 member banks spanning 15 European countries.
| Milestone | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Initial founding | Sep 25, 2025 | 9 banks launch the consortium |
| Expansion | Dec 1, 2025 | BNP Paribas joins the alliance |
| Formalization | Late 2025 | Qivalis name and governance defined |
| EMI license | Oct 14, 2026 | DNB approval secured |
| Planned launch | H2 2026 | Euro stablecoin issuance |
The supervisory board is chaired by Sir Howard Davies, former head of the UK’s Financial Services Authority (1997-2003), ex-director of the London School of Economics (2003-2011) and former chairman of RBS/NatWest (2015-2024), knighted in 1999 for his services to financial regulation. The consortium also remains open to additional European banks joining the venture.
Fireblocks at the technical helm
For the technical stack, Qivalis has selected Fireblocks as its digital asset infrastructure provider, a sector reference used by many financial institutions. The leadership team combines deep regulatory and crypto expertise: CEO Jan-Oliver Sell previously led Coinbase Germany, where he secured the first crypto custody license ever issued by the German regulator BaFin, after senior roles at Binance and iFunded. CFO Floris Lugt joins from ING, where he headed wholesale digital asset banking.
“The currency of Europe deserves Europe’s rules, onchain. We believe Europe should have an onchain settlement asset denominated in euros, issued under European law and subject to European regulatory standards.”
Jan-Oliver Sell, CEO of Qivalis
“This infrastructure is essential if Europe is to remain globally competitive in the digital economy while preserving its economic sovereignty. We are not just building payment rails; we are making sure European values around data protection, financial stability and regulatory compliance are baked into the next layer of digital money.”
Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of Qivalis’ Supervisory Board
A sovereignty stake against the dollar
Beyond the technical angle, Qivalis frames its project as a matter of European monetary sovereignty. On the Fintech Garden podcast, Jan-Oliver Sell pointed out that nearly 99.8% of stablecoin transactions are denominated in dollars, even though roughly a quarter of global stablecoin activity originates geographically in Europe. The gap fuels, in his view, a real risk of “dollarization” for the region’s finance: if European banks migrate their processes onto blockchains and settle everything in dollar-pegged stablecoins, they effectively convert their assets into U.S. Treasuries and drain capital from the European financial system.
For Sell, the main obstacle is no longer technology but liquidity. Qivalis’ euro stablecoin aims precisely to provide that missing market depth, enabling cross-border payments 24/7, near-instant and low-cost, alongside programmable use cases ranging from tokenized asset settlement to supply-chain management. The consortium’s stated mission is to drive innovation in payments, settlement and digital assets across the continent.
Conclusion
With its Dutch EMI license in hand, Qivalis now stands as one of the most advanced euro stablecoin projects on the continent, both in terms of its banking consortium’s weight and the regulatory soundness of its architecture. The actual rollout, slated for H2 2026, will be a real-world stress test: if liquidity follows and institutional users adopt the EMT, the project could redraw the map of the stablecoin market, currently dominated by USDC and USDT. Conversely, a slow deployment or weak integration among member banks would leave the field open to dollar-backed initiatives.
For Europe, the stakes go beyond technical convenience — they are about preserving monetary autonomy in the digital era. Whether Qivalis succeeds or stumbles will signal whether the continent can produce, at scale, an onchain payment infrastructure genuinely competitive with the U.S. heavyweights.
Sources
This article is published for informational and educational purposes. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.
