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Teemu Päivinen, founder and CEO of Equilibrium Labs, shares details of an upcoming stablecoin that might streamline cross-border transfers in the European Union (EU).
First ever Euro-pegged stablecoin EUROe closes seed funding round
Päivinen took to Twitter to announce the creation of EUROe, the first ever regulatory-compliant and fully licensed stablecoin project in the EU countries pegged to fiat Euro.
As some of you may have noticed, @EUROemoney announced the first EU regulated EUR stablecoin today.
— Teemu π (@teemupai) December 9, 2022
We started this journey at @equilibrium_co with @juhaviitala almost two years ago and while this is just the beginning, I'd like to share some of the journey so far. 🧵
As per his statement, the upcoming stablecoin project is a brainchild of his Web3 infrastructure team Equilibrium Labs. Initially, it was designed as a EUR-pegged stablecoin for in-project technical operations required for its progress.
As the team was operating in the European Union, it badly needed a EUR-pegged asset. "Being stuck" using USD-pegged stablecoins or EUR-based assets with overseas regulation was not an option for Päivinen's team.
With the emergence of the much-criticized Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) regulatory framework, Equilibrium Labs moved to build a pioneering MiCA-compliant asset based on Euro. That is why the team raised €2 million in seed funding from Helsinki-based Maki Ventures and is going to present EUROe as soon as early 2023.
Fast, cost-efficient and transparent payments for individuals and firms in EU
Juha Viitala, CEO and co-founder of Membrane Finance and another key figurehead of the new product highlights the importance of having an EU-regulated stablecoin integrated in the local Web3 ecosystem:
We have a strong protectionistic perspective in building EUROe. An EU version must be introduced to the market to compete globally with other currencies. Keeping EUR reserves in the ETA region and preventing reserve cumulation outside the EU is mandatory to keep up with the competition. EUROe will certainly play a role in this
As per the project's presentation, EUROe will be suitable for integration into wallets, trading platforms, IoT designs, DAOs, fintechs, NGOs and NFT marketplaces.
As covered by U.Today previously, the U.S.-based digital payments mogul Circle Inc., the creators of the second largest stablecoin USDC, launched its Euro Coin (EUROC) in June 2022.