French Bank Becomes First Institution To Issue A Stablecoin On Ethereum

Societe Generale FORGE, a subsidiary under the umbrella of the venerable French banking institution Societe Generale, is reportedly introducing EUR CoinVertible (EURCV), a stablecoin linked to the Euro and deployed on the Ethereum blockchain, as indicated in a recent announcement via Bitstamp.

Introducing EURCV

EURCV is an ERC20 token crafted to offer a cryptocurrency with minimal volatility, maintaining a steady value reflective of the Euro. The stablecoin is collateralized by cash deposits and cash equivalents denominated in EUR.

Societe Generale assures the presence of robust legal frameworks to guarantee the separation and accessibility of reserve assets for token holders. Moreover, Bitstamp is commencing order book operations for multiple trading pairs with Flowdesk, a crypto market maker, which was chosen to supply liquidity and engage in active market-making for EURCV on Bitstamp and other platforms.

Initially, the facilitation of EURCV deposits and withdrawals will be restricted to investors whitelisted by Societe Generale, with the bank asserting the application of its existing KYC and AML compliance procedures for the onboarding of digital token holders.

An important development

Although not the pioneer in Euro stablecoins, EURCV stands out as the first to be endorsed by a largely regulated European bank. In 2018, a state owned bank in Brazil known as the Brazilian National Social Development Bank introduced a stablecoin pegged to the Real. Additionally, both Circle and Tether have also entered the market with similar Euro pegged tokens targeted at retail investors.

The launch of EURCV closely follows the inaugural bond issuance on the public Ethereum blockchain by Societe Generale, wherein a digital green bond worth 100 million Euros found full subscription by institutional asset managers AXA and Generali.