BBVA has become part of a group of 11 European banks that has created a joint venture, Qivalis, with plans to issue a stablecoin linked to the euro.
The participants say the project is intended to support quicker, lower-cost payments and the settlement of digital assets within a regulated framework designed to include safeguards associated with European banking.
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According to the consortium, the product is expected to be launched commercially in the second half of 2026, subject to completion of technical work and regulatory steps.
Qivalis has been established as an Amsterdam-based company and is set to operate under solvency, governance and customer protection requirements under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA).
BBVA CIB head of partnerships & innovation Alicia Pertusa said: “Collaboration between banks is key to create common standards that support the evolution of the future banking model and deliver financial innovation to our clients in a consistent and practical way.
“In this regard, BBVA brings to Qivalis extensive experience amassed over years of exploring and developing use cases linked to digital assets.”
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By GlobalDataQivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell said: “Having BBVA join the banking consortium marks an important step forward. With their addition, our network now brings together twelve European banks committed to building a secure, MiCARcompliant euro stablecoin framework.
“This growing alignment strengthens our ability to deliver a resilient institutional-grade on-chain infrastructure for businesses and consumers across Europe and the world.”
The venture is currently waiting for authorisation from the Dutch central bank to operate as an electronic money institution.
The plan is for the venture to issue a shared stablecoin that participating banks can use to offer new payment options and to settle tokenised financial assets on blockchain rails.
The consortium outlined a potential use case in which a self-employed professional could pay overseas suppliers, including those working with other banks, more rapidly and at reduced cost through a euro-linked method integrated into their existing bank services.
Alongside BBVA, the banks involved are Banca Sella, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, DZ BANK, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB and UniCredit.
In a statement on its involvement, BBVA said: “Joining Qivalis marks yet another milestone in BBVA’s long track record of exploring digital assets”.
The bank also pointed to earlier work, including a collaboration with SWIFT on a blockchain-based shared registry for banks and its participation in Agorá, a Bank for International Settlements-led initiative focused on improving wholesale cross-border payments using the technology.
