Circle Launches a Fully-Reserved, Euro-Backed Stablecoin, Euro Coin

Fazzaco learned that Circle, a global internet finance firm and issuer of USD Coin (USDC), is preparing to issue a fully-reserved, euro-pegged stablecoin from the United States called Euro Coin (EUROC), which will initially launch on the Ethereum blockchain starting on June 30.

According to the company, Euro Coin, as its second digital currency, "is built to the same regulatory standards and principles of transparency, accountability and trust as USDC, a leading dollar digital currency with over $54 billion in circulation as of June 15, 2022." The two types of stablecoins are together designed to "bring faster, inexpensive transactions to global commerce and unlock new opportunities for multi-currency digital finance and on-chain  foreign exchange (FX), where daily volume in traditional markets can top $6.6 trillion globally." 

With the launch of Euro Coin, Circle aims to further Circle's successful work in driving the frictionless exchange of financial value and bridging crypto-native and traditional financial services since EUROC tokens allows companies to easily move euro liquidity on-chain, accept and pay by euro accross the world and settle in minutes. Also, these tokens can be used for trading, borrowing, lending and more in crypto capital markets. "Euro Coin is fully-backed by euro-denominated reserves held conservatively in the custody of leading financial institutions within the U.S. regulatory perimeter, beginning with Silvergate Bank," the company stated in its announcement.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, commented on the new launch: "Circle has set industry-leading standards for moving financial value across the internet with USDC. There is clear market demand for a digital currency denominated in euros, the world's second most traded currency after the U.S. dollar. With USDC and Euro Coin, Circle is helping to unlock a new era of fast, inexpensive, secure and interoperable value exchange worldwide."

In addition, the company noted that Euro Coin will be available to institutional customers via a free Circle Account starting June 30, 2022 and will work broadly with ERC-20 compatible wallets, protocols and other blockchain services since it's an Ethereum ERC-20 standard token.

Circle also indicated that Euro Coin will be supported by 13 ecosystem leaders, including Binance.US, Bitstamp, Compound, Curve, CYBAVO, DFX, Fireblocks, FTX, Huobi Global, etc.

To advance the adoption of USDC, Circle conducted a series of measures. Most recently, the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Taiwan-based CYBAVO, a breakthrough crypto technology company. Also, it has added USDC to Polygon Blockchain, making USDC available via nine different blockchain networks.