From theblock by Brian McGleenon

Schuman Financial has launched EURØP, a euro-backed stablecoin designed to streamline global digital payments, on-chain foreign exchange trading and tokenized real-world assets. Fully pegged to the euro at a 1:1 ratio and backed by cash and cash equivalents, EURØP aims to capitalize on the rising demand for regulated stablecoins in Europe.

The launch follows Schuman Financial’s $7.36 million seed funding round in September, led by RockawayX. Other backers include Lightspeed Faction, Kraken Ventures, Nexo Ventures, Gnosis VC, Delta Blockchain Fund and Bankless Ventures.

"Today, the global euro-denominated financial services represent approximately a third of the financial services market, which is denominated in USD," Schuman Financial CEO Martin Bruncko said. "This means that as financial services shift on-chain, the euro's role in the digital asset space will inevitably grow, and we can already see increased interest in stablecoin payments, and this use case is just starting to take off." 

EURØP will initially launch on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains, with plans for additional chain integrations and DeFi protocol partnerships in the coming months. Schuman Financial announced that the stablecoin will soon be listed on major European crypto exchanges and supported by top digital asset custodians, market makers and service providers.

Schuman Financial acquires French stablecoin issuer license

Schuman Financial has become the first European company to acquire a stablecoin issuer license in France. The license, granted by the French Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, enables the firm to issue e-money tokens pegged to any currency across the European market.

The company is building an ecosystem around EURØP, featuring SEPA integrations, banking channels, and custody partnerships with Tier-1 global banks, such as Société Générale.

EURØP aims to address several macroeconomic and market trends, including rising demand for euro-denominated digital assets and regulatory clarity provided by MiCA. "We see major tailwinds for the adoption of EUR-denominated stablecoins, including regulatory clarity, non-zero EUR interest rates, demand by non-U.S. digital asset traders for alternative FX exposure, and all against a backdrop of the DeFi market’s expansion as new assets and capital come on-chain,” RockawayX CEO Viktor Fischer said.

Founded by former Binance Europe executives alongside experts from traditional finance (TradFi) and European policy-making, Schuman Financial is dedicated to building an EU-regulated blockchain infrastructure to transition euro-denominated financial services on-chain.