BBVA joins 12-bank group challenging USD stablecoin dominance with EUR alternative

BBVA, Spain’s second-largest bank has just become a part of Qivalis, a consortium of major European banks developing a regulated euro-pegged stablecoin. This makes BBVA the consortium’s 12th member. 

The aim is to enable faster and cheaper payments, as well as the settlement of digital assets within a regulated environment backed by all the safeguards that a European bank can offer. 

The commercial launch is scheduled to take place in the second half of 2026, once the technical and regulatory developments have been completed.

What is Qivalis?

The consortium has set up Qivalis as a joint venture headquartered in Amsterdam, operating under the solvency, governance and customer protection standards established by the European crypto-assets regulatory framework (MiCA). 

Its main objective is to issue a shared stable cryptocurrency that will enable European banks to offer their clients new payment solutions and settlement of tokenized financial assets using blockchain technology. 

Alicia Pertusa, Head of Partnerships & Innovation at BBVA CIB, frames it as “collaboration between banks,” which is key to creating “common standards that support the evolution of the future banking model while delivering financial innovation to clients in a consistent and practical way.” 

“In this regard, BBVA brings to Qivalis extensive experience amassed over years of exploring and developing use cases linked to digital assets,” said Pertusa.

Jan-Oliver Sell, CEO of Qivalis, called BBVA’s joining the banking consortium an important step forward. 

“With their addition, our network now brings together twelve European banks committed to building a secure, MiCAR‑compliant euro stablecoin framework,” Sell said. “This growing alignment strengthens our ability to deliver a resilient institutional-grade on-chain infrastructure for businesses and consumers across Europe and the world.”

What are BBVA and Qivalis planning? 

The consortium, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, was initially formed by nine banks in late 2025 and has continued to grow since then. 

In addition to BBVA, the consortium now includes Banca Sella, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, DZ BANK, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB and UniCredit.

The initiative aims to provide a secure and efficient alternative for payments, settlements and digital assets within Europe. It aims to be faster and cheaper while enabling near-instant euro-based transactions on the blockchain, especially for institutional use. 

One of the key motivations behind it is to challenge the dominance of USD-pegged stablecoins like USDT and USDC, which currently dominate the majority of the $300 billion global stablecoin market. 

While euro-backed stablecoins exist, they currently represent a tiny fraction, which is why the consortium is being regarded as a bank-led effort to boost Europe’s financial autonomy while reducing reliance on dollar-based digital assets and promoting strategic independence in digital finance. 

The project also allows traditional banks to compete in the evolving blockchain space without giving up on regulatory peaks. In this way, they can offer more trust and lower risk compared to some crypto-native issuers.

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