A new euro stablecoin is coming to market. Named EUROP, it is being launched by Schuman Financial whose CEO is Martin Bruncko, a former European civil servant and Vice President of Binance in Europe from November 2021 to June 2023.
According to our information, to speed up its regulatory process, Schuman Financial has made acquired French start-up Salvus, which in November 2023 had become the first stablecoin issuer to obtain its electronic money establishment (EME) authorisation from the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), one of France's financial regulators.
This licence has been made compulsory by the European MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation since 1 July for any player wishing to issue stablecoin in a regulated manner in the European Union.
The management team also includes Eduardo Morrison and Amrita Srivastava, who also came through Binance, as well as Nicholas Pouzin, former VP in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, and Roman Semko, formerly of Deutsche Bank.
A €7 million initial funding round
In addition to its EME authorisation, Schuman Financial has also closed a €7 million seed round led by RockawayX. Lightspeed Faction, Kraken Ventures, Nexo Ventures, GnosisVC, Delta Blockchain Fund and Bankless Ventures also participated in the round.
To be adopted, Schuman Financial's ambition is for the EUROP to be accepted as collateral for the European crypto derivatives market in particular, which is currently at a standstill following the requirement demanded by the European Union to hold MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) authorisation in order to operate. To date, Bitstamp is the only crypto player to have obtained it.
Read also - Crypto derivatives: faced with regulation, what solutions for traders?
Currency trading on the forex market, tokenisation of assets and payments are also the use cases targeted by the issuer. Its reserve will consist entirely of cash or its equivalent and will be audited by KPMG.
"We are banking on a shift in financial services to blockchain, which is far more efficient at storing and transferring value than the traditional system," Martin Bruncko tells The Big Whale.
"Stablecoins will be essential in this transition. And the market for euro stablecoins is still in its infancy," he adds.
Read also - Stablecoins: finally time for the euro?
The market to conquer for euro stablecoins
Until now, euro stablecoins have largely been shunned by crypto investors in favour of the dollar. But the entry into force of the MiCA regulation now offers a more reassuring regulatory framework.
Schuman Financial is the 4th entity authorised to issue a euro stablecoin in the European Union after SG-Forge (Société Générale's crypto subsidiary) with CoinVertible, Iceland's Monerium with EURe as well as American Circle with EURC.
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