37 banks, one licence: the Qivalis euro stablecoin cannot launch yet

The Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank granted the Amsterdam company Qivalis B.V. authorisation as an electronic money institution on October 14, 2026. Qivalis may therefore issue a euro-denominated e-money token, backed according to the company by 37 European banks from 15 countries. It is not yet allowed to issue the token, however: before the first issuance it still lacks the whitepaper that the MiCA regulation requires.

For now, that means there is nothing to buy. What there is: a date, an authorisation and an unusually broad list of owners. This piece sets out what the licence means, which obligations remain open, and how to tell for yourself who is actually allowed to issue a euro stablecoin in Europe.

What the EMI authorisation from De Nederlandsche Bank actually permits

An electronic money institution, EMI for short, is a supervised payment company. It may issue electronic money, meaning balances that are created against a payment in and can be redeemed at face value at any time. In its statement of October 14, Qivalis says it has received authorisation as an electronic money institution from De Nederlandsche Bank and is thereby entitled to issue euro-denominated e-money tokens (Qivalis statement).

The authorisation was granted under the Dutch Financial Supervision Act. For the European single market, that is the decisive point: an authorisation granted in the Netherlands takes effect across the entire European Union through the passporting mechanism, Germany included. A German institution needs no second authorisation from BaFin for the same line of business as long as Dutch supervision carries the licence and distribution has been properly notified.

An authorisation is not a product approval, though. It confirms that a company meets the requirements on own funds, management, safeguarding of client money and anti-money-laundering controls. It says nothing about the timing of issuance, the blockchain used or the token's name. All three questions remain open at Qivalis to this day.

One note on the company's own website is worth flagging. Its legal information states that Qivalis currently issues no electronic money and provides no payment services to the public. The authorisation is in place; the business is not yet running. Anyone who comes across offers promising a tradable Qivalis token in these days should treat them with considerable scepticism. An overview of regulated trading venues helps to tell offers from licensed providers apart from those without a licence.

37 banks from 15 countries: who stands behind Qivalis

Qivalis describes itself as a joint venture of 37 European banks from 15 countries. In its report of October 14, CoinDesk names BBVA of Spain, BNP Paribas of France, Dutch lender ING and DZ Bank, the central institution of Germany's cooperative banks based in Frankfurt, among the participants. The company does not publish a full list in the body text of its homepage.

That ownership structure sets the project apart from the large dollar stablecoins. Tether and Circle are companies that issue a token and hold reserves against it. Qivalis is a creation of commercial banks that intend to pass the token on to their own customers later. It changes the question of whom you are trusting when you hold such a balance: behind the balance sits a supervised institution whose shareholders are in turn supervised banks.

The consortium has grown. A company statement of May 20, 2026 reported that 25 further banks had joined. cryptoticker.io reported on the banking group's plans on September 9, 2026 and named Ethereum as the intended blockchain at the time. On today's homepage Qivalis names no blockchain; answering that question means waiting for the whitepaper.

Chief executive Jan-Oliver Sell is quoted as saying: “Europe's currency deserves Europe's rules, onchain.” The sentence stakes out a position against dollar dominance in the stablecoin market. It says nothing about dates.

E-money token: the difference from an asset-referenced token under MiCA

The MiCA regulation knows two kinds of stablecoin, and the distinction is more than terminology. An e-money token, abbreviated EMT, is denominated in exactly one official currency, here the euro. An asset-referenced token, abbreviated ART, refers to a basket of several currencies, commodities or other assets.

E-money tokens face the stricter rules because they come closest to money. Only a credit institution or an electronic money institution may issue them. That second door is the one Qivalis has walked through with its authorisation. An ART issuer, by contrast, needs its own MiCA authorisation and is subject to partly different obligations.

In practice, classification as an e-money token means your balance has to be fully backed and that you can redeem it at face value at any time. That is the core of the promise, and the reason supervisors look so closely here.

The MiCA whitepaper requirement is holding up issuance

Between authorisation and a first token lies another stage. Before an e-money token is offered to the public or admitted to trading in the EU, the issuer has to draw up a crypto-asset whitepaper, submit it to the competent supervisor and publish it. CoinDesk reports that Qivalis still has to meet the remaining MiCA requirements, including publication of a whitepaper, before the token can be issued (CoinDesk report of October 14, 2026).

The whitepaper is not a marketing brochure. It describes the issuer, the rights and obligations of holders, the technology, the reserves, the redemption procedure and the risks. It is the most important document for investors, because it sets out whom you have a claim against in case of doubt and how you assert it.

On timing, the company is keeping quiet. CoinDesk writes that Qivalis wants to issue the token in the coming months without naming a date; the second half of 2026 had originally been announced. A statement of October 5, 2026 still spoke of a planned launch later in 2026. Anyone looking for a firm date will not find one. The obligations coming up for crypto companies in Europe as a whole are set out in our overview of the MiCA licence.

How to check the MiCA registers yourself to see who may issue a euro stablecoin

You do not have to rely on press releases. Public registers exist for both questions, authorisation and the right to issue.

The first route leads to the public register of De Nederlandsche Bank. The supervisor lists the institutions it has authorised there, with legal form and type of authorisation. To check whether a provider really is an electronic money institution, search for the exact company name, here Qivalis B.V., rather than for a brand name.

The second route leads to the register of the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA. It holds the issuers of e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens, along with the whitepapers that have been published. If a token does not appear there, it is not properly offered in the EU. If it does appear, the accompanying whitepaper gives the details on reserve and redemption.

The third route concerns the trading venue, not the token. An exchange offering euro stablecoins needs its own MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider in the EU. A look at the stablecoin overview shows which euro tokens are available at all at the moment and where they trade.

No interest on e-money tokens: what MiCA forbids issuers

One point surprises many investors. E-money tokens may pay no interest. The MiCA regulation prohibits issuers and service providers from granting holders any remuneration that depends on how long they hold. For the planned token, CoinDesk explicitly points out that holders can redeem it at face value at any time and that it may pay no interest.

That rule has a purpose: an e-money token is meant to be a means of payment, not a savings product that pulls deposits out of the banking system. A euro stablecoin therefore brings you no return. Its use lies in settlement, in moving amounts quickly and around the clock.

A provider promising a yield on a euro stablecoin balance is a warning sign. Either the instrument is not a MiCA-compliant e-money token, or the return comes out of an additional business such as a lending platform. That additional business carries its own default risk, which has nothing to do with the backing of the token.

Distribution through banks and exchanges rather than straight to retail customers

According to the CoinDesk report, the planned token will not reach consumers directly. Qivalis intends to distribute it through banks, crypto exchanges and payment service providers. You would obtain it from your bank, your payment provider or an exchange, not from Qivalis itself.

That model shifts a practical question. How well a euro stablecoin works for you then depends less on the issuer than on whoever passes it on: on their fees, their withdrawal limits, and whether they offer redemption in euros into your account. The backing of the token is regulated; the route to you only as far as the distribution partner is itself supervised.

It is also open which of the 37 banks will actually bring the token into their apps. A stake in the issuer is not yet a commitment to offer the product too. Until announcements from individual institutions are on the table, the distribution route remains a statement of intent.

Euro stablecoin against USDT and USDC: where the difference lies for European investors

The stablecoin market is a dollar market. Investors in Germany trading crypto assets usually park balances in USDT or USDC and thereby carry a currency risk that is often overlooked: the euro-dollar rate can move between entry and exit, and that move feeds through to your result even if the stablecoin itself stays stable at one dollar.

A euro token takes that risk out, provided you count in euros, pay in in euros and cash out in euros. In return the market is narrower. The large trading pairs on exchanges are denominated in dollars, and a euro stablecoin with little in circulation means wider gaps between the bid and the ask.

The offering is not new. Several euro stablecoins are already authorised and in circulation in the EU. What sets Qivalis apart is its backing by commercial banks, and with it the prospect that such a token finds its way into payment settlement between institutions rather than only into trading on crypto exchanges.

Tax in Germany: swapping into a stablecoin is a disposal

One misunderstanding is persistent. Swapping Bitcoin or Ether into a stablecoin is not simply parking in tax terms, it is a disposal. In Germany, swapping one crypto asset for another counts as a private disposal transaction under the Income Tax Act. If the purchase is less than a year old, the gain is taxable as soon as the exemption threshold is exceeded.

A euro stablecoin changes nothing about that. Swapping into USDC or into a euro token is the same for tax purposes: both are crypto assets within the meaning of the law, and both trigger a taxable event. Switching frequently between coins and stablecoins creates a number of transactions that is hard to reconstruct without records.

It is therefore worth documenting the holding period for each purchase before the first swap comes up. Which programmes record purchase, swap and holding period automatically is covered in our survey of tax tools.

Qivalis euro stablecoin: no token without a whitepaper, licence or not

The authorisation of October 14, 2026 is a milestone, not a starting gun. Qivalis may issue a euro token in future, has not yet done so, and the date remains open. Three steps make sense now:

1. Put offers in context. As long as no whitepaper has been published, no tradable token from this issuer exists. With any offer, check first whether the trading venue itself holds a licence; the overview of regulated crypto exchanges ranks providers by their authorisation.
2. Document holding periods. Every switch into a stablecoin is a taxable event in Germany. A tax tool or portfolio tracker records the purchase date and holding period before the first swap comes up.
3. Compare the euro tokens that already exist. Settling in euros today does not mean waiting. Which euro stablecoins are already authorised in the EU and where they trade is set out in the stablecoin overview.

(As of October 14, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)