Euro stablecoin project adds 25 new banks

By Elizabeth Howcroft and Jesús AguadoPARIS, May 20 (Reuters) - Twenty-five more banks, including lenders ABN Amro and Sabadell, have joined a European consortium planning to launch a euro-pegged cryptocurrency later this year, the group said on Wednesday.The consortium - which set up an Amsterdam-based company called Qivalis last year - now has 37 financial institutions as members, including ING, BNP Paribas and BBVA, from 15 countries.The project is framed as a way to counter U.S. dominance in digital payments, as well as participate in a possible future system where assets such as bonds and real estate are traded as blockchain-based crypto tokens, although the European Central Bank is sceptical about the benefits."The euro is Europe's currency, and on-chain financial infrastructure should carry it - built by European institutions and governed by European rules," Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell said in the statement.The 25 new members include: Dutch lenders ABN Amro and Rabobank, Spanish lenders Sabadell and Bankinter, Bank of Ireland, Sweden's Handelsbanken and Finland's Nordea, among others.Various news outlets had reported earlier in May that some of the banks were due to join.The crypto industry is increasingly competing with mainstream financial institutions, putting traditional lenders under pressure to find uses for blockchain technology within their own businesses.Stablecoins - a type of cryptocurrency pegged to a fiat currency - are mostly used in crypto trading, and have surged in size in recent years. The market is dominated by El Salvador-based Tether and U.S.-based Circle, which say they have around $190 billion and $77 billion of their dollar-pegged tokens in circulation respectively.Still, there are few signs of demand for euro-pegged alternatives. Societe Generale's crypto arm, SG-FORGE - which is not part of Qivalis - launched a euro-pegged stablecoin in 2023, but it has just 105.6 million euros ($122.40 million) worth of tokens in circulation.($1 = 0.8627 euros)(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and Jesús Aguado; editing by Philippa Fletcher)