Revolut has begun the phased rollout of its euro-backed stablecoin, less than a year after receiving approval to provide crypto asset services in the European Union.
The neobank began rolling out EURR on Wednesday, initially making the stablecoin available to a select group of customers in Denmark, Poland and Portugal.
A wider rollout across the European Economic Area, along with stablecoins denominated in other currencies, is expected later this year, subject to product, operational and regulatory readiness.
EURR connects euros with crypto
EURR is designed to maintain a value of €1 and is backed by reserves held and managed by Revolut under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
The stablecoin provides eligible customers with a euro-denominated, on-chain way to move between euros and crypto assets.
EURR will also be supported across multiple blockchain networks and external wallets.
“EURR connects 80mn Revolut customers directly to on-chain finance,” said Emil Urmanshin, Revolut’s head of crypto and new bets.
He said the combination of Revolut’s global scale and licensed banking infrastructure with euro-denominated access to the crypto ecosystem would expand the real-world use of stablecoins.
Revolut expands its crypto services
The launch marks another step in Revolut’s effort to connect traditional currencies with digital assets, bringing euros on-chain while integrating its fiat, currency exchange and crypto services.
Revolut obtained a crypto asset licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in October last year, becoming one of the first major fintech companies licensed to provide crypto asset services across Europe.
The MiCA licence supports the company’s wider crypto expansion, which began in 2017 when Revolut introduced crypto trading through its app.
Earlier this year, the fintech also joined the UK’s regulatory sandbox to explore how stablecoin services could operate under the country’s proposed digital asset framework.
Revolut has not said whether a British pound-backed stablecoin could be included in a future rollout.
Banks also preparing euro stablecoin
The launch puts Revolut ahead of a 37-bank consortium developing its own euro-denominated stablecoin through Qivalis, a group established last year to issue a stablecoin under the supervision of the Dutch central bank.
The consortium includes Intesa Sanpaolo, ABN Amro, Nordea, Banco Sabadell, Bank of Ireland, Swedbank, Groupe BPCE and Rabobank.
It is targeting a market launch in the second half of this year.
Iman Olya, Revolut’s stablecoin product owner, said EURR was intended to remove friction when moving between on-chain and off-chain assets.
“EURR completely removes the pain of moving on- and off-chain,” he said, describing the stablecoin as a seamless bridge between fiat and crypto.
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