The Bank of Spain approves the issuance of the first ever digital euros by MONEI

Spanish fintech MONEI has announced that the Bank of Spain has authorised the licensed payment fintech to issue a euro stablecoin, EURM, in its sandbox.

FACTS

• These stablecoins will guarantee users the issuance of digital currencies through fiat deposits. The reserve assets are held in accounts at institutions such as BBVA and Caixabank.

• The "EURM" token is indexed to the Euro using Polygon and Ethereum blockchain technologies.

• The pilot project is expected to last up to 12 months, with reports produced to enable the central bank to decide whether to allow an official launch.

• MONEI's platform only allows ten EURM for each registered user account. This standard is in line with the Bank of Spain's regulations for Sandbox regulations.

• Users enter their phone number, verify their identity with a smartphone, and then reload their wallet using Bizum. Bizum will enable fiat integration for stablecoin, which will have a one-to-one parity.

• Potential uses of the digital euro once approved by the Bank of Spain include:

  • Sending money between peers with the ability to schedule payments,

  • Payment anywhere the Bizum application is accepted,

  • As well as the possibility for companies to digitise and schedule daily payments to their suppliers.

CHALLENGES

• Setting a precedent: EURM is not the first digital stablecoin in euros. But it may be the first to be linked to a central bank and regulated to that extent. French company LUGH issued a stablecoin in 2021 with reserves held at Société Générale and audited by Deloitte but has only just over €4 million in circulation.

• Demonstrating its avant-gardism: By multiplying the projects, the Bank of Spain wishes to demonstrate to the rest of Europe its country's advance on the subject. 30 Spanish banks including BBVA, Sabadell, Santander, ING and Deutsche Bank, joined by payment services organisations Iberpay, Bizum and Redsys, have set up a working group to assess the impact of the European Central Bank's implementation of a digital euro.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• In 2022, the Bank of Spain had already embarked on a project to create a central bank digital currency by actively seeking partners.

• In November 2022, MONEI partnered with Mastercard to make Click to Pay technology available to electronic businesses in Spain. With the introduction of this digital currency, MONEI is aiming to demonstrate its upgrades to payments made in the eurozone. Indeed, the fintech company has recently modernised its payments in terms of speed of execution and reduction of inherent costs.

• At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, a Chinese company Red Date Technology announced the launch of a private digital payment platform initiative to compete with Swift. The initiative includes banks such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, The Bank of East Asia and Akbank.