Key Takeaways:
Crédit Agricole, Europe's third-largest bank by assets, launched the EURO eXchange Token (EURXT), a euro-denominated stablecoin issued on Ethereum through its asset servicing arm CACEIS.
The token is an electronic money token pegged 1:1 to the euro, with 20.02 million tokens in circulation backed by an equivalent amount in euro reserves held at CACEIS Bank, according to the project's website.
"The launch of EURXT marks a significant step in bringing regulated digital settlement to institutional markets," a CACEIS spokesperson said. The stablecoin is compliant with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, which came into full effect this year.
CACEIS secured a MiCA crypto-asset service provider license from French regulators in June 2025, a year before the EURXT launch. The stablecoin's first transaction involved a subscription into a tokenized Amundi Money Market Fund, targeting institutional and corporate clients as part of Crédit Agricole's push into tokenized finance.
No hard cap on supply
The EURXT white paper states there is no limit on issuance, meaning supply can expand based on demand through its smart contract system. "As of the date of the white paper, there is no limit on the issuance of EURXT. The number of EURXT in circulation will depend on market demand," the document reads.
The launch adds to a wave of regulated stablecoin issuance in Europe as traditional finance and crypto-native companies compete to issue compliant digital euros. AllUnity has been expanding its MiCA-compliant stablecoin stack, while Quantoz Payments continues rolling out euro-denominated stablecoins.
In the US, more than 140 companies including Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and Ripple have joined the Open USD stablecoin project, which lets participants mint the dollar-pegged token at no cost and keep all earnings from its reserves.
The EURXT launch also intensifies competition among Europe's largest banks exploring blockchain-based settlement. HSBC and BNP Paribas, the region's top two banks by assets, joined the Canton Foundation last September to accelerate tokenization of institutional real-world assets.
For Crédit Agricole, the stablecoin represents a direct bridge between traditional banking infrastructure and blockchain-based capital markets. With MiCA providing a unified regulatory framework across the European Union, the bank is positioning EURXT as a settlement instrument for tokenized funds, a market that asset managers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have been expanding through products like tokenized money market funds.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
