Circle Launches Second Major Stablecoin Backed 1:1 by the Euro

On Thursday, Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that the company has launched a new stablecoin pegged to the value of the euro (EUR). Allaire said that the new EUROC token is now live on the Ethereum network and will be “available to mint and redeem on June 30th.”

Circle Launches EUROC

Circle has announced the launch of the company’s second major fiat-pegged crypto asset called euro coin (EUROC). The announcement stemmed from Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire on Thursday who explained that EUROC already has “broad industry support.” Circle also follows the company Tether Limited, which introduced a euro stablecoin called EURT in August 2016. There’s currently €195.99 million worth of Tether’s EURT at the time of writing and roughly $7 million in global trade volume during the past 24 hours. In terms of the stablecoin’s fiat backing, Circle’s new EUROC web portal states:

Designed for stability, Euro Coin is 100% backed by euros held in euro-denominated banking accounts so that it’s always redeemable 1:1 for euros.

Allaire details that the new EUROC is fully regulated and will follow the same compliance framework as USDC. “Like USDC, Euro Coin is being issued under a regulated framework for money transmission, under the same statutes that regulate USDC, with full-reserves in Euro, with the same security, liquidity and transparency that the market has come to expect from Circle,” Allaire wrote on Thursday.

EUROC Already Has Support From Exchanges, Wallets, Custodians, and Defi Apps

The Circle CEO believes a euro-based stablecoin will expand payment opportunities and onchain FX. It will bolster trade finance (tradefi) and commerce as well, Allaire explained in his tweet about the project. EUROC will be accessible to individuals, exchanges, institutional traders, and businesses. Currently, EUROC is supported by Binance US, Bitstamp, FTX, and Huobi Global. In the decentralized finance (defi) world EUROC is also supported by Compound, Curve, DFX, and Uniswap.

Additionally, custodians like Anchorage Digital, CYBAVO, and Fireblocks support the new stablecoin alongside wallets like Metamask Institutional and Ledger Wallet. “Euro Coin will be available to institutional customers via a free Circle Account starting June 30, 2022,” Allaire concluded on Thursday. “Developers can begin integrating with the Euro Coin smart contract today, ahead of the official launch.”