A consortium of 37 European banks has moved closer to launching a regulated euro stablecoin after receiving authorisation from De Nederlandsche Bank as an electronic money institution.
Qivalis, which began with 12 founding banks and now spans 37 institutions across 15 European countries, is preparing to issue a euro-denominated token that will be fully backed 1:1 by the euro. The Dutch central bank is expected to review the project’s white paper before launch.
According to Ripple, euro stablecoins grew from roughly €50 million in early 2024 to about €450 million by January 2026. That remains a small fraction of the approximately $300 billion market for dollar-denominated stablecoins, but Qivalis is designed to expand regulated euro-based payment, settlement and tokenized-asset infrastructure.
Ripple is positioning its custody technology as a key part of this expansion. BBVA and DZ BANK, both members of the Qivalis consortium, already use Ripple Custody. DZ BANK has integrated Ripple’s technology into its institutional custody processes, including tokenized securities, while BBVA uses it within its banking infrastructure while retaining control over cryptographic keys and client assets.
Ripple is not issuing the Qivalis stablecoin. The consortium will issue it under its own authorization and technology. However, community speculation has emerged that XRP could eventually operate as a hidden bridge or settlement asset behind the scenes. XRP community member Vincent Van Code compared such a role to an authentication provider that works invisibly: end users do not need to know how it works, only that the service functions. He argued that Qivalis banks could use Ripple’s broader infrastructure for custody, tokenization and settlement, with XRP potentially working as a backend bridge asset.
Neither Ripple nor Qivalis has officially confirmed that XRP will be used as the bridge asset for the Qivalis stablecoin. Ripple has separately expanded its European regulatory footprint in 2026, obtaining an electronic money institution license in Luxembourg and authorization for crypto-asset services under MiCA.
