At a glance
- The license puts it among the issuers EU rules allow to offer euro-denominated electronic money tokens.
- The license does not mean the token is live: Qivalis must still satisfy the remaining MiCA requirements, including publishing a white paper, before issuing it.
- Under MiCA, EMTs must be issued by an authorized credit institution or an electronic money institution, which gives holders a legal claim on the issuer and the right to redeem at face value at any time.
Qivalis, an Amsterdam-based consortium backed by 37 European banks, said the Dutch central bank granted it an electronic money institution license, CoinDesk reported. The license puts it among the issuers EU rules allow to offer euro-denominated electronic money tokens.
The license does not mean the token is live: Qivalis must still satisfy the remaining MiCA requirements, including publishing a white paper, before issuing it. The company plans to complete those steps in the coming months, CoinDesk reported.
What the EMT category requires
Under MiCA, EMTs must be issued by an authorized credit institution or an electronic money institution, which gives holders a legal claim on the issuer and the right to redeem at face value at any time. MiCA also bars interest on the token: yield terms and redemption terms are regulatory choices rather than commercial ones.
The rulebook is currency-neutral. Dollar-backed stablecoins such as USDC can qualify as EMTs under MiCA if they meet the EU's requirements, and issuers that do not meet the applicable rules cannot lawfully offer their tokens to the public in the EU. Qivalis plans to reach users through banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and payment providers rather than selling to consumers directly, and has selected Fireblocks for digital asset infrastructure, CoinDesk reported.
The consortium was founded in September 2025 and includes BBVA, BNP Paribas, ING and DZ Bank. Chief executive Jan-Oliver Sell said Europe should have a euro-denominated onchain settlement asset issued under European law and subject to European regulatory standards, adding: "Europe's currency deserves Europe's rules, onchain."
The DNB license settles the issuer question: a national supervisor has now authorized the entity under an EU regulation; the euro corridor has not been validated. Demand remains unproven — no member bank has been named as routing payments through the token, and no volume figures have been disclosed, per CoinDesk's account.
Reported by the Regulation desk from CoinDesk Policy. Published . Corrections