Why Euro Stable Watch?
Mapping Europe's new financial rails
The stablecoin market has reached a tipping point. What began as a crypto experiment now processes over $15.6 trillion annually, matching Visa's entire global network volume. This digital infrastructure operates around the clock, yet over 95% of stablecoin volume runs on US dollars whilst Europe's currency, the euro, remains a minor player.
The US is building an on-chain finance world powered by stablecoins, with the crypto industry now aligned with the Trump administration to ensure US dollar dominance in digital infrastructure. Other countries are moving fast to establish their positions. Europe, despite creating the world's first comprehensive stablecoin regulatory framework through MiCA, lacks major players and meaningful adoption.
Euro Stable Watch provides the intelligence that industry professionals, regulators, investors, and policymakers need to track this rapidly evolving landscape. We analyse developments, assess competitive positioning, and examine what's at stake for European financial markets.
The decisions made now will determine Europe's role in digital finance for the next decade. We conclude with an extensive reading list covering recent developments across the space—a particular focus for this inaugural edition as we catch up on the backlog of essential sources.
What follows are the key reasons why Euro Stable Watch exists—and why this market deserves attention now.
1. Because euro stablecoins are overlooked in a market moving fast
Dollar-pegged tokens dominate the $205 billion stablecoin market, with daily trading volumes exceeding $23 billion. Tether's USDT commands over $150 billion in circulation, while Circle's USDC has a market capitalisation of approximately $60 billion. These tokens facilitate global payments, crypto trading, and digital asset settlement around the clock, serving as bridges between traditional finance (‘TradFi’) and decentralised systems (‘DeFi’).
Major US players are accelerating their advantage. Coinbase has integrated stablecoins across institutional products, Stripe recently acquired stablecoin company Bridge for $1.11bn, and regulatory clarity improves under the Trump administration's crypto-friendly stance. Congressional proposals such as the “Genius Act” seek to establish clear frameworks for dollar stablecoin issuance, potentially cementing US dominance.
Euro stablecoins, by contrast, command less than 1% of the market, despite the euro representing roughly 20% of global foreign exchange reserves. They lack liquidity, institutional adoption, and serious backing.
The infrastructure gap matters concretely. Traditional financial rails move money through correspondent banks, clearing houses, and payment processors with multi-day settlement. Stablecoins create rails that operate continuously, settle instantly, and integrate with programmable smart contracts.
Europeans may feel less urgency here. After all, SEPA—the ‘Single Euro Payments Area’ that standardised euro payments across 36 countries—enables instant transfers across the continent, clearing in seconds and operating 24/7. But whilst SEPA operates within traditional banking infrastructure and regulatory boundaries, stablecoins transcend both. They operate on global blockchain networks mostly without banking intermediaries, can be accessible to anyone with internet access, and are programmable through smart contracts.
As these new rails gain adoption, currency relevance follows infrastructure control. Europe risks ceding this territory by default.
2. Because stablecoins sit at the centre of a paradigm shift
Stablecoins operate at the intersection of banking, payments, capital markets, regulation, monetary policy, and cryptographic infrastructure. This complexity breeds confusion, and in crypto, hype consistently overwhelms reality.
Breathless claims about “revolutionising finance” often obscure what's actually happening. Stablecoins aren't replacing banking overnight or making central banks obsolete. But they are creating new pathways for capital that operate parallel to existing ones, and these pathways are gaining real traction.
This makes stablecoins difficult to assess and easy to misunderstand. What appears to be a regulatory problem might really be monetary. What seems like a payments issue may signal deeper shifts in liquidity management or market structure. Strip away the hype, and you find genuine infrastructure being built.
In reality, stablecoins serve as connective tissue between blockchain-based assets and traditional finance, linking DeFi and TradFi. They are the unique bridge between crypto and the real world, creating a conduit between both systems. They anchor value while enabling on-chain settlement, tokenised assets, and programmable payments to work together. Without stablecoins, blockchain-based finance fragments into isolated experiments. With them, it becomes coherent alternative infrastructure that connects to existing financial systems.
This connective tissue function explains why stablecoins matter beyond individual use cases. They don't just facilitate payments or trading. They make an entire ecosystem possible by providing stable value that moves seamlessly between protocols, applications, and jurisdictions.
3. Because policy choices made now will last
Europe isn't passive. MiCA establishes the world's first comprehensive stablecoin regulatory framework. The ECB continues developing its digital euro, with pilots scheduled through 2026—though what this actually is remains unclear: is it a CBDC, a stablecoin, or something else entirely?
Yet European players and want to be participants consistently complain about MiCA's requirements: reserve composition rules, redemption obligations, and authorisation processes they claim too restrictive. Tether for example has chosen to not comply with MiCA and is therefore being delisted. Adding to this complexity, France's digital asset framework, Germany's electronic securities law, and various sandbox programmes create a patchwork that firms must navigate alongside MiCA.
This reveals a familiar pattern. Europeans respond to regulation by lamenting burdens, while Americans take whatever regulatory environment exists and build within it. Tether operates under limited oversight, Circle navigates state-by-state licensing, and both thrive by working with constraints rather than awaiting perfect rules.
The ECB's official approach also contrasts sharply with the US, which has rejected CBDCs entirely and instead backs private stablecoin development to maintain dollar dominance in digital finance.
Beyond the US, the regulatory competition is global. The UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea are all advancing stablecoin frameworks, creating a race for regulatory clarity and market positioning. Europe's regulatory thoroughness may prove comprehensive, but thoroughness without execution risks irrelevance.
Frameworks built now will shape the next decade. Technical standards, regulatory categories, and institutional mindsets are being locked in. Once set, they resist change. The question is whether Europe's regulatory approach will enable competitive euro stablecoin ecosystems or constrain them while competitors advance.
4. Because the euro's financial future is at stake
Creating the euro stands as one of the most consequential policy successes in recent memory. Replacing the Deutsche Mark, franc, lira, and other established national currencies required aligning monetary policies, legal frameworks, and political interests across sovereign nations. That it succeeded remains remarkable.
But today's challenge differs fundamentally. Building new financial rails for a euro-powered digital economy isn't the same as making the euro a global reserve currency. These are separate objectives requiring different strategies. Progress on Europe’s new financial rails shouldn't be constrained by debates about reserve currency status or geopolitical positioning.
Reserve currency status involves central bank holdings, international trade invoicing, and diplomatic relationships. Upgraded financial rails involve technical standards, regulatory frameworks, and market adoption. The latter can succeed even if the former remains limited, and affects Europeans directly through financial system efficiency and competitiveness.
If stablecoins become dominant digital financial infrastructure and remain overwhelmingly dollar-based, consequences won't be abstract. European businesses will face higher transaction costs, reduced access to global liquidity, and dependence on US-controlled financial rails. European consumers will find fewer options for digital payments and savings. European financial institutions will lose relevance in an increasingly digital economy.
This isn't about abstract sovereignty. It's about purchasing power, living standards, and economic agency. A vibrant euro stablecoin ecosystem means more competition, better services, and lower costs for Europeans. It means European firms can access global markets as equals rather than dependents of dollar-based systems.
In Sum: What to Expect from Euro Stable Watch
Euro Stable Watch publishes original analysis twice monthly (or more), providing intelligence that industry professionals need to navigate this landscape.
Coverage includes regulatory deep-dives examining MiCA implementation, national framework developments, and compliance requirements. We track technical developments in blockchain infrastructure, tokenisation protocols, and cross-border settlement systems. Market analysis covers trading volumes, liquidity patterns, institutional adoption rates, and competitive positioning.
We feature exclusive interviews with decision-makers: central bankers wrestling with digital currency policy, fintech executives building euro stablecoin products, institutional investors assessing digital asset strategies, and regulators crafting implementation guidelines. These conversations reveal strategic thinking behind public announcements and policy decisions.
Strategic positioning analysis examines how traditional banks, payment processors, and crypto firms adapt their euro strategies. We cover partnerships, product launches, and competitive moves signalling market direction.
Each edition connects developments to broader implications: how regulatory changes affect market structure, how technical standards influence adoption patterns, and how competitive dynamics shape Europe's position in global digital finance.
The infrastructure being built now will determine how Europeans access financial services, how European businesses compete globally, and how the euro functions in a digital economy. The window for influence is narrow, and decisions being made now will have lasting consequences.
We're here to dissect, challenge, and help make sense of the developments that will decide the euro's future in the financial world.
Recommended in the euro stablecoin space:
UK-listed IG Group launches crypto trading to retail investors (Helen Partz, Cointelegraph, June 2025)
Is Effective Crypto Regulation Finally Coming? (Howard Davies, Project Syndicate, May 2025)
Stablecoins and monetary sovereignty: the ball is in Europe’s court (£) (Ignazio Angeloni, The Financial Times, May 2025)
Spotlight on Christine Lagarde: Europe's Role in a Fragmented World (📺) (Christine Lagarde, Hertie School, May 2025)
Why Tether refuses to comply with MiCA (Bradley Peak, Cointelegraph, May 2025)
Europe needs a euro stablecoin now more than ever (Marieke Flament & Nicolas Colin, LinkedIn, May 2025)
Commission livid as ECB warns of crypto apocalypse under Trump (Ben Munster & Giovanna Faggionato, Politico Europe, April 2025)
Donald Trump’s crypto embrace overshadows new EU digital assets rules (£) (Nikou Asgari, The Financial Times, December 2024)
Stablecoins: finally time for the euro? (Louis Tellier, The Big Whale, September 2024)
Recommended more broadly in stablecoins:
Stablecoins are a New Platform (Simon Taylor, FintechBrainfood, June 2025)
Stablecoin Regulation Could Shakeup US Financial System ($) (Chris Anstey, Bloomberg, May 2025)
Circle Freezes $58 Million Worth of USDC in Solana Wallets Tied to Libra Scandal (Logan Hitchcock, Decrypt, May 2025)
The Most Bullish Thing I’ve Read About Crypto in a Long Time ($) (Joe Weisenthal, Bloomberg, May 2025)
Stablecoins and safe asset prices (Rashad Ahmed & Iñaki Aldasoro, Bank of International Settlements, May 2028)
Digital Corruption Takes Over DC (Paul Krugman, May 2025)
JD Vance tells bitcoin conference stablecoins don't threaten dollar (MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC, May 2025)
Crytpo: There's just no legit use case for it. But, man, are these bros lobbied up. (Jared Bernstein & Ryan Cummings, Jared’s Substack, May 2025)
This crypto conference took down an 'anti-woke' ad. I went to see what it was like. (Katie Notopoulos, Business Insider, May 2025)
Stablecoin giant Circle targets $6.7 billion valuation in US IPO (Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pritam Biswas, Reuters, May 2025)
Trump Media Reveals $2.5 Billion Raise to Buy Bitcoin (Liz Napolitano, Decrypt, May 2025)
Bank of Korea Exploring Using 'Stablecoins Issued by the Private Sector' (Vismaya V, Decrypt, May 2025)
What It Was Like Inside the Trump Crypto Dinner (Ryan S. Gladwin, Decrypt, May 2025)
Rise of the multilateral sovereign vision fund and the dividend dollar (Izabella Kaminska, The Blind Spot, May 2025)
PAXOS Americana (Izabella Kaminska, The Blind Spot, May 2025)
Stablecoin Payments from the Ground Up (Artemis, Castle Island Ventures & Dragonfly, May 2025)
Judge Stablecoin Legislation by the Tether Test ($) (The Editorial Board, Bloomberg, May 2025)
Big Banks Explore Venturing Into Crypto World Together With Joint Stablecoin ($) (Gina Heeb & Justin Baer, The Wall Street Journal, May 2025)
Hong Kong passes stablecoin bill, one step closer to issuance (Summer Zhen, Reuters, May 2025)
How AI Breaks Every Moat in Fintech (Simon Taylor, FintechBrainfood, May 2025)
Tokenisation: The coming Big Bang in financial markets (Nicolas Colin, LinkedIn, May 2025)
The New Money Market (£) (Marc Rubinstein, Net Interest, May 2025)
Taking stablecoins seriously (🎧) (Patrick McKenzie & Haseeb Qureshi, Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie, April 2025)
Crypto's quiet workhorse is finally going mainstream (Brady Dale, Axios, April 2025)
Banks and fintechs join ‘stablecoin gold rush’ (£) (Akila Quinio, Nikou Asgari & George Hammond, The Financial Times, March 2025)
The coming dollar superstructure: Why stablecoins are America’s next great export (£) (Izabella Kaminska, The Blind Spot, March 2025)
First look at crypto under the current administration (Rabihah Butler, Thomson Reuters, March 2025)
A Golden Break ($) (Michael W. Green, Yes, I give a fig... thoughts on markets from Michael Green, February 2025)
Stablecoins and shenanigans (🎧) (Patrick McKenzie & Zeke Faux, Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie, February 2025)
Stablecoin Regulation Gains Global Momentum (Todd D. Kanaster, Erkan Erturk, Rebecca Mun, Pranav Pandya & Wen Wu, S&P Global, February 2025)
Stripe closes $1.1 billion Bridge deal, prepares for aggressive stablecoin push (MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC, February 2025)
Crypto’s $205 Billion Stablecoin Market Set to Go Mainstream (£) (Muyaho Shen, The Financial Times, December 2024)
Are Stablecoins the Future of Payments? (Ran Goldi, Fireblocks, October 2024)
Odd Lots: The Booming Crypto Use Case That's Happening Right Now (🎧) (Tracy Alloway & Joe Weisenthal, Bloomberg, September 2024)
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