Salvus becomes the first French stablecoin to obtain its e-money licence

This is a first in France. According to our information, start-up Salvus, which was founded at the end of 2022, recently obtained its electronic money establishment (EME) authorisation from the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR).

It is the third crypto player to obtain this authorisation in Europe after Finland's Monerium, which issues the stablecoin EURe, and US-origin platform Gemini.

Salvus has not been launched by strangers as it is Frédéric Mazurier and Aude Vicaire, already creators of Market Pay, a fintech financed by the Carrefour group and specialising in payments for retailers and merchants.

Getting such a regulatory licence is important because from 30 June 2024, issuers of euro-denominated stablecoins will be required to have it to operate in Europe (we talk about it in this week's survey below).

Unlike Monerium (€1.2 million of tokens in circulation), Salvus' stablecoin is not yet available on the market. It will initially be issued via Ethereum, Polygon and Tezos. Discussions are underway with exchange platforms to list it.

The first use cases targeted by Salvus are cross-border B2B payments, flows between subsidiaries of the same group, those with suppliers, etc. "There is still a real problem with payments, which can take days," explains Salvus. The company is not targeting private individuals for the time being, "as the volumes are not yet significant enough and payment by bank card works very well", says the Paris-based start-up.

Proof that the subject is booming, Franco-British start-up Deblock also obtained its EME approval this week. Contacted by The Big Whale, the crypto/euro banking app (whose launch is imminent), however, says it has no plans to launch stablecoins.

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