Circle Is Launching a Euro-Backed Stablecoin

The U.S.-based stablecoin provider Circle is launching a fully-reserved stablecoin pegged to the euro.

Circle Announces Euro Coin

Another euro-backed stablecoin is set to hit the market.

1/ Get ready for #EuroCoin!

Euro Coin (EUROC) is our newest #stablecoin that will launch on June 30th.

We designed it with the same full-reserve model as #USDC so that it’s always redeemable 1:1 for euros. See how to get it https://t.co/3PclycHxPk

— Circle (@circlepay) June 16, 2022

Circle, the issuer behind the second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin and fourth-largest cryptocurrency on the market, USDC, announced today that it would launch a fully-collateralized pegged to the Euro. Per the press release, the new token dubbed Euro Coin (EUROC) will begin trading as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network on Jun. 30, with native support for additional blockchains expected by the end of the year. 

“There is clear market demand for a digital currency denominated in euros, the world’s second most traded currency after the U.S. dollar,” said the co-founder and CEO of Circle Jeremy Allaire, adding that the firm’s new euro-backed stablecoin would help “unlock a new era of fast, inexpensive, secure, and interoperable value exchange worldwide.”

EUROC will use the same tried and tested issuance and redemptions model as USDC, Circle’s $54-billion dollar-pegged stablecoin. It will also be fully backed by “euro-denominated reserves” held in “leading financial institutions within the U.S. regulatory perimeter,” the announcement said. The stablecoin provider didn’t clarify whether EUROC would be solely backed by Euroeuros—euros held in banks outside the Eurozone—or include other highly liquid yield-bearing financial instruments like commercial paper and bonds.

However, Allaire’s claims that there’s an apparent market demand for euro-denominated stablecoins seem at odds with the actual signals from the market. Crypto’s two other major euro-backed stablecoins, Tether’s EURT and Stasis’ EURS, have a combined market capitalization of only around $344 million today—orders of magnitude lower than that of the two biggest dollar-backed stablecoins. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.