Qivalis EMI Licence: What DNB’s Approval Lets the 37-Bank Euro Stablecoin Do Next
The Qivalis EMI licence from DNB lets the 37-bank consortium issue a euro stablecoin under MiCA once its white paper is out: redeemable at par, no interest.
The Bright Recap
Qivalis, the euro stablecoin issuer owned by 37 European banks, is now authorised by De Nederlandsche Bank as an electronic money institution. Issuance under MiCA follows the publication of its white paper, and holders will be able to redeem at par, with no interest paid.
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Bright Answers
What does the Qivalis EMI licence allow the company to do?
It places Qivalis under ongoing supervision by De Nederlandsche Bank and makes it eligible to issue euro-denominated e-money tokens, with issuance subject to MiCA's requirements and the publication of its white paper.
Will holders of the Qivalis euro stablecoin earn interest?
No. MiCA forbids issuers and crypto-asset service providers from paying interest on e-money tokens, and it gives every holder the right to redeem at any time and at par value.
Thirty-seven European banks now share one licensed issuer for a euro that can settle on public networks. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, has authorised Qivalis, the Amsterdam company owned by those banks across 15 countries, as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI).
The Qivalis EMI licence makes the company eligible to issue euro-denominated electronic money tokens (EMTs), the EU category for stablecoins tied to a single official currency, and Qivalis plans to start issuing within the coming months.
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What the DNB licence allows Qivalis to do
Qivalis now operates under ongoing DNB supervision, the status the consortium has worked towards since its founding in September 2025. The licence covers the euro token that the 37 banks behind Qivalis have been preparing, with Fireblocks selected in April 2026 as the infrastructure provider. The company has issued nothing yet, and its website states that it does not currently issue electronic money or provide payment services to the public.
MiCA’s second condition is a published white paper
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the EU law adopted in 2023, lets an issuer offer an EMT to the public only when two conditions are met. The issuer must be authorised as a credit institution or an EMI, and it must notify its crypto-asset white paper to its regulator and publish it. The Qivalis licence announcement presents the authorisation as a key regulatory condition and ties the start of issuance to MiCA’s requirements and the publication of that white paper. Qivalis has not yet disclosed the token’s name, the networks it will run on or the composition of its reserves.
What MiCA guarantees every euro token holder
MiCA gives each EMT holder a claim against the issuer and the right to redeem the token at any time and at par value. The regulation also forbids issuers and crypto-asset service providers from paying interest on EMTs, and it treats any reward linked to how long a holder keeps the token as interest. That rule separates a euro EMT from crypto platforms where stablecoin yield varies by jurisdiction. Qivalis says it plans a full reserve model for its token.
Why most users will reach Qivalis through an intermediary
Qivalis describes its distribution as a B2B2X model. It will provide the token to eligible counterparties, including banks, crypto exchanges, payment service providers and market infrastructure firms, and those counterparties will bring it to their own clients. Its chief executive, Jan-Oliver Sell, described the aim as giving Europe a euro-denominated on-chain settlement asset governed by European law and standards. The model places Qivalis in the layer of financial technology that customers rarely see, where the consortium runs the token and its member banks and partners keep the client relationship.
Sir Howard Davies chairs the Qivalis supervisory board, which includes independent representation. He is a former chairman of NatWest Group and of the UK Financial Services Authority.
Three routes to a regulated euro stablecoin
Qivalis adds a third model to two euro EMT routes already operating under MiCA. Societe Generale-FORGE, a subsidiary of the French bank, holds an EMI licence from France’s prudential supervisor and restructured its EUR CoinVertible token as an EMT in July 2024, more than a year after launching it for institutional clients. Revolut launched EURR for selected customers in Denmark, Poland and Portugal in August 2026, with the token issued by Bridge Building, a Luxembourg EMI owned by Stripe’s stablecoin business, and distributed through Revolut’s app. A single bank, a fintech app with an external issuer and a 37-bank consortium now offer the same legal product, with the same redemption right and the same ban on interest.
Qivalis makes 37 competing banks co-owners of one euro token, which moves their competition from issuing the token to distributing it.
Editor’s note
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