The October 15, 2025 launch of EUROD by ODDO BHF, a 175-year-old Franco-German banking institution managing over €150 billion in assets, is a direct response to this imbalance. This move signals a watershed moment for traditional finance’s embrace of blockchain technology.  

The strategic imperative facing European institutions is clear: adapt to blockchain-based payment rails or risk continued dependence on US-controlled infrastructure and disintermediation by crypto-native competitors. ODDO BHF’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Guy de Leusse, stated that it was “essential to us to offer a European solution in euros” in a market dominated by USD stablecoins, reflecting broader European anxieties about monetary sovereignty.  

The market entry also follows intense official scrutiny. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde previously called for closing regulatory loopholes around foreign stablecoins, warning that unregulated issuers could drain liquidity from the euro and EU financial systemODDO BHF, a 175-year-old Franco-German banking institution managing over €150 billion in assets, today announced the launch of EUROD, a fully-regulated euro-backed stablecoin designed to challenge US dollar dominance in the rapidly expanding digital payments market. The October 15, 2025 launch positions the independent European bank as a first-mover in the nascent but strategically critical euro stablecoin space, where less than 1% of the $300 billion global stablecoin market currently represents non-USD denominations. Listed initially on Madrid-based crypto exchange Bit2Me—which recently secured €30 million in backing from Tether—EUROD enters a market poised for explosive growth but faces the formidable challenge of unseating entrenched USD-pegged competitors while European regulators push aggressively for digital payment sovereignty.

The move signals a watershed moment for traditional finance’s embrace of blockchain technology. Just weeks after nine major European banks—including UniCredit, ING, and Danske Bank—announced a consortium to launch their own euro stablecoin in 2026, ODDO BHF’s entry validates the strategic imperative facing European financial institutions: adapt to blockchain-based payment rails or risk disintermediation by crypto-native competitors and continued dependence on US-controlled infrastructure.

Strategic imperative driving European bank adoption

“It seemed essential to us to offer a European solution in euros, in a market that is ultra-dominated by USD stablecoins,” stated Guy de Leusse, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at ODDO BHF. “Our ambition is to become a leading issuer in the euro, the reference currency.” The statement reflects broader European anxieties about monetary sovereignty in an increasingly digital global economy where 99% of stablecoin market capitalization remains USD-denominated, primarily through Tether’s USDT ($143 billion) and Circle’s USDC ($58 billion).

The strategic calculus is clear: euro-backed stablecoins currently command just €500-650 million in market capitalization compared to over $240 billion for USD stablecoins, despite the euro representing 20% of global central bank reserves and 32% of international payment transactions. This massive disconnect presents both opportunity and risk for European policymakers and banks alike. ECB President Christine Lagarde articulated these concerns in September 2025, calling for closing regulatory loopholes around foreign stablecoins and warning that unregulated issuers could drain liquidity from the euro and EU financial system.

The competitive landscape EUROD enters remains fragmented but rapidly consolidating. Circle’s EURC leads with approximately $266 million in circulation and recently captured 47% market share growth following MiCA enforcement in December 2024. Société Générale’s EURCV, launched in April 2023 through the bank’s SG-FORGE subsidiary, targets institutional clients with multi-chain deployment across Ethereum, Stellar, and Solana. Meanwhile, Tether’s EURt is being discontinued on November 25, 2025, after the company refused to comply with MiCA’s requirement that 60% of reserves be held at European banks—a regulatory stance CEO Paolo Ardoino criticized as “dangerous.”

ODDO BHF Launches EUROD: A New Era for Euro-Pegged Stablecoins

Technical architecture and regulatory compliance

EUROD operates on Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake blockchain with smart contract address 0xd37aF043481DA92eb7E218254952830C066cBCf5, providing Ethereum compatibility while offering lower transaction costs and higher throughput than mainnet operations. The stablecoin maintains a 1:1 peg with the euro through 100% collateralization in euro reserves held in regulated European bank accounts, managed by ODDO BHF Asset Management with oversight from multiple banking partners including Spain’s Unicaja and BBVA.

Infrastructure partnerships demonstrate ODDO BHF’s commitment to institutional-grade security and compliance. Fireblocks provides tokenization technology and multi-party computation (MPC) custody solutions, while Flowdesk serves as market maker to ensure liquidity and tight spreads. This technology stack mirrors approaches taken by leading institutional crypto platforms, positioning EUROD for integration into both centralized exchanges and decentralized finance protocols.

Critically, EUROD achieves full compliance with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation from launch—a significant competitive advantage in the post-December 2024 regulatory environment. MiCA, which became fully operational at year-end 2024, establishes the world’s first comprehensive stablecoin regulatory framework, requiring 1:1 reserve backing, regular independent audits, transparent whitepapers, and strict anti-money laundering protocols. Banks prove structurally advantaged in meeting these requirements, as they already hold Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licenses, maintain existing compliance infrastructure, and operate under prudential supervision that MiCA now extends to crypto-asset issuers.

“The listing of ODDO BHF’s euro stablecoin is another important step in Bit2Me’s mission to offer trusted, regulated digital assets,” noted Leif Ferreira, CEO of the exchange platform. Bit2Me’s selection as initial listing venue reflects strategic geographic targeting—the Madrid-based exchange commands significant reach across Spanish-speaking markets in Europe and Latin America, where 71% of financial institutions report using stablecoins for cross-border payments according to recent industry surveys.

Combining the stability of a financial institution with the advantages of blockchain

Competitive positioning in crowded but undersized market

ODDO BHF enters a competitive landscape that paradoxically combines intense rivalry with massive untapped potential. The bank’s 175-year heritage, €150 billion in assets under management, and 3,000 employees worldwide provide institutional credibility that crypto-native issuers cannot match. Formed through the 2016 merger of France’s Oddo bank (founded 1849) and Germany’s BHF-BANK (founded 1854), the firm maintains deep relationships with European mid-market companies, family offices, and institutional investors—precisely the client segments most likely to adopt euro-denominated blockchain payment solutions.

The timing proves opportune. Tether’s exit from the euro stablecoin market eliminates €27 million in competition, while regulatory clarity under MiCA creates favorable conditions for compliant issuers. Yet EUROD faces formidable challenges scaling against Circle’s EURC, which boasts three years of operational history, integration with major DeFi protocols including Aave, Curve, and Uniswap, and deployment across multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Avalanche. Circle’s average trade size of $3,000—six times higher than competitors—signals strong institutional adoption that ODDO BHF must replicate.

The September 2025 announcement of a nine-bank euro stablecoin consortium compounds competitive pressures. That initiative, including giants like UniCredit, ING, and Danske Bank, plans a Netherlands-based entity supervised by the Dutch Central Bank with anticipated launch in the second half of 2026. The consortium explicitly positions itself to counter US stablecoin dominance and leverage collective balance sheet scale exceeding €1 trillion. However, ODDO BHF’s first-mover advantage—launching 6-12 months ahead of the consortium—provides critical time to establish liquidity, exchange partnerships, and institutional relationships.

Differentiation emerges through ODDO BHF’s multi-bank backing structure, combining the issuer bank with support from Unicaja and BBVA. This distributed approach reduces single-institution risk compared to solo issuers like Société Générale while maintaining nimbler governance than large consortiums. The Franco-German-Spanish banking heritage also positions EUROD to serve the three largest eurozone economies, representing over 60% of euro area GDP.

Broader market dynamics and growth trajectory

The global stablecoin market has expanded from $24 billion in early 2020 to over $240 billion today, processing approximately $650-700 billion in monthly transaction volume—an annualized throughput approaching $8-10 trillion. Projections from major financial institutions vary widely but trend decidedly bullish: JPMorgan forecasts $500 billion by 2028 in conservative scenarios, while Standard Chartered and US Treasury analyses suggest $2 trillion as regulatory clarity accelerates institutional adoption. Citi’s bull case extends to $4 trillion by 2030.

Euro stablecoins capturing just 1-2% of a $1-2 trillion market by 2028 would represent $10-40 billion in circulation—a 15-80x increase from today’s €500-650 million base. This growth trajectory appears achievable given that 40% of traditional foreign exchange transactions involve non-USD currencies while less than 1% of crypto transactions currently use non-USD stablecoins. The structural mismatch between traditional finance currency distribution and crypto market composition presents a massive arbitrage opportunity that European banks now race to exploit.

Use case evolution drives these projections. While 88% of current stablecoin activity involves crypto trading and DeFi, cross-border payments represent the fastest-growing segment. Stablecoins reduce international payment costs by 80% (from $25-50 to under $0.01 per transaction) while settling in seconds rather than 2-5 days through correspondent banking networks. Latin America leads adoption intensity, with stablecoin transaction volume reaching 7.7% of regional GDP—primarily driven by remittance flows, inflation hedging, and B2B payments between companies lacking efficient banking corridors.

Institutional treasury management represents another emerging application. Corporate treasurers increasingly recognize stablecoins as 24/7 liquidity tools enabling real-time cash positioning, automated sweeps via smart contracts, and instant settlement for tokenized securities. JPMorgan’s Onyx platform processes over $1 billion daily in repo transactions using its JPM Coin deposit token, while Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon have tokenized money market fund shares settling against blockchain-based cash equivalents.

Regulatory framework reshaping competitive dynamics

MiCA’s December 2024 full implementation fundamentally altered competitive dynamics in European crypto markets. The regulation distinguishes between Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs) like EUROD—pegged 1:1 to single fiat currencies—and Asset-Referenced Tokens backed by baskets of assets. Critically, only banks and regulated financial institutions can issue EMTs, immediately disqualifying most crypto-native competitors from the European market unless they obtain expensive and time-consuming EMI licenses.

Banks leverage existing compliance infrastructure, regulatory relationships, and consumer trust to fast-track stablecoin launches. Société Générale transitioned EURCV to MiCA compliance in July 2024 within months of the framework’s stablecoin provisions taking effect. Circle, despite pioneering USD stablecoin adoption, required multi-year preparation to secure its French EMI license in July 2024. Non-EU issuers face even steeper barriers: Tether opted to exit the euro market entirely rather than comply with reserve location requirements.

The EU’s broader digital finance strategy encompasses complementary initiatives including the digital euro CBDC (currently in preparation phase with potential 2028-2029 launch), Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) enabling non-bank payment providers to access central bank settlement, and the Financial Data Access (FIDA) framework advancing open banking. These parallel tracks create an integrated ecosystem where private stablecoins, bank deposits, and central bank digital currency can coexist while maintaining regulatory oversight and consumer protection.

Pierre Gramegna, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism, captured the strategic imperative: “Europe should do its best to facilitate the generation of euro-denominated stablecoins by domestic issuers.” This policy support, combined with MiCA’s structural advantages for banks, explains the sudden acceleration of traditional financial institutions entering the market.

Industry implications and future outlook

ODDO BHF’s EUROD launch exemplifies a broader inflection point in traditional finance’s relationship with blockchain technology. A March 2025 Fireblocks survey found 90% of financial institutions actively integrating stablecoins, with 49% already using them for payments—adoption rates far exceeding most analyst predictions from just two years prior. North American institutions demonstrate particular enthusiasm, with 88% viewing forthcoming regulations favorably following passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, which established federal frameworks for USD stablecoin issuance.

The strategic calculus has shifted from “should we explore blockchain?” to “how quickly can we deploy?” Banks recognize stablecoins not as speculative crypto assets but as fundamental payment infrastructure upgrades—the financial equivalent of transitioning from telegraph to telephone. Chris Harmse of payment platform BVNK observed: “We are entering a period of escape velocity in terms of everyone recognizing this is a new and upgraded payments technology. There’s real businesses and real use cases happening.”

This embrace manifests across the banking sector. Beyond ODDO BHF and the nine-bank consortium, JPMorgan expanded its JPM Coin (rebranded Kinexys Digital Payments) and piloted JPMD deposit tokens on Coinbase’s public Base network. Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo announced stablecoin exploration initiatives. Even SWIFT, the Brussels-based interbank messaging system handling $6-10 trillion daily, launched a blockchain platform in September 2025 for stablecoin and tokenized asset transfers, partnering with 12 banks including BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon.

The correspondent banking network faces existential disruption. Traditional cross-border payments lock up $1-2 trillion in nostro/vostro pre-funded accounts across correspondent banks, charge 6-10% in total fees, and require 2-5 days settlement. Blockchain-based stablecoin transfers eliminate pre-funding requirements, cost under $0.01, and settle in seconds. While hybrid systems will likely persist for 5-10 years, stablecoins are projected to capture 20% of the $290 trillion cross-border payment market by 2030, up from approximately 3% today.

For ODDO BHF specifically, success hinges on execution across several dimensions. Rapid integration with additional exchanges beyond Bit2Me remains essential to bootstrap liquidity. DeFi protocol partnerships with Aave, Curve, and Uniswap would provide euro-denominated lending markets and automated market maker pools. Multi-chain deployment—particularly to Ethereum mainnet for institutional DeFi and Solana for high-throughput payments—would expand addressable market. Most critically, ODDO BHF must leverage its €150 billion AUM and 60,000 client relationships to drive institutional adoption among the European mid-market companies and family offices that form its core business.

The competitive window may prove narrow. While EUROD benefits from 6-12 month first-mover advantage over the nine-bank consortium, that larger initiative’s collective resources and geographic reach present formidable competition once operational. Circle’s EURC continues rapidly scaling, having grown 43% in April 2025 alone to 217 million tokens in circulation. Network effects in payments and DeFi favor early leaders who establish deep liquidity and protocol integrations.

Yet the fundamental opportunity remains vast. Euro stablecoins capturing even a modest share of the tokenized finance ecosystem—projected at $30-60 trillion in addressable European market value by 2030—would represent a massive expansion from today’s sub-billion euro base. ODDO BHF’s banking pedigree, regulatory compliance, and strategic partnerships position EUROD to capture meaningful market share in what industry analysts increasingly view as inevitable: the convergence of traditional banking and blockchain infrastructure into a unified, real-time, programmable global financial system operating 24/7/365 across all currencies and asset classes.

The 175-year-old bank’s digital leap reflects not disruption but evolution—traditional finance deploying its institutional advantages of trust, regulatory relationships, and client networks onto superior technological rails. As de Leusse’s ambition to become “a leading issuer in the euro” suggests, ODDO BHF views EUROD not as a crypto experiment but as core payment infrastructure for the next century of European finance.

Smart Contract Address – Polygon PoS: 0xd37aF043481DA92eb7E218254952830C066cBCf5

Combining the stability of a financial institution with the advantages of blockchain

For more details on EUROD and its features, visit the official ODDO BHF website