Qivalis, a venture backed by 37 European banks, has received authorisation from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, to operate as an electronic money institution. The decision, announced on 14 October 2026, clears the way for the company to issue euro-denominated electronic money tokens (EMT) under the European Union's MiCA framework.
Qivalis was founded in September 2025 and draws its backing from 37 banks spread across 15 countries. Spain supplies the largest national contingent, with seven lenders involved: BBVA, CaixaBank, Banco Sabadell, Bankinter, Abanca, Cecabank and Kutxabank. No other country among the participants fields as many institutions.
The e-money licence is the regulatory step that allows Qivalis to begin issuing its euro-linked token once operational preparations are complete. The company has not set a firm date, saying only that issuance will begin "in coming months". Spanish financial outlet CincoDías has reported a possible launch in November 2026, with Ethereum as the initial network, but Qivalis has not confirmed either detail.
Institutional focus
Qivalis has said its token will initially target institutional clients rather than retail users. The company points to cross-border payments, corporate treasury operations and the settlement of tokenised assets as the principal intended use cases, positioning the stablecoin as infrastructure for bank-to-bank and bank-to-corporate transactions denominated in euros.
A market still dominated by the dollar
The project arrives against a backdrop in which euro-linked stablecoins remain a marginal presence in the global market. Tokens pegged to the euro account for roughly 0.2% of the circulating stablecoin supply, while dollar-linked stablecoins make up more than 98% of the total. That imbalance has fed discussion in Brussels and among national regulators about reducing reliance on dollar-denominated digital assets for euro-area payment and settlement activity.
With 37 banks across 15 countries behind it, Qivalis represents one of the broader coalitions of European lenders to pursue a joint stablecoin initiative under MiCA. The DNB authorisation gives the project a formal regulatory footing in the Netherlands, from which it intends to issue the token across the euro area once the remaining operational steps are completed.
