Crédit Agricole Enters Euro Stablecoin Race With EURXT Token

Crédit Agricole (ACA), France's second-largest bank by assets, launched a euro-pegged stablecoin, entering a market that already includes Société Générale (GLE) and Circle Internet (CRCL). A group of 37 European banks, Qivalis, plans to introduce its own contender later this year.

The coin, EURO eXchange Token (EURXT), is pegged 1:1 to the euro and complies with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, according to a post on the website of its asset servicing unit, Caceis Bank, which is issuing the token. It has already been used to settle a subscription into a tokenized Amundi money market fund.

There are 20 million EURXT in circulation on Ethereum, backed 1:1 by euro reserves held by Caceis Bank. That compares with about 378 million of Circle's EURC and 124 million of SocGen's EURCV.

The euro stablecoin market has grown substantially since MiCA rules governing the tokens took effect a year ago, with market capitalization more than doubling in 12 months, according to a DECTA study. Even so, the market is tiny compared with the U.S. dollar-pegged token arena dominated by Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, at just 0.5% of market share.

Amundi is one of the region's largest asset managers, with 2.4 trillion euros ($2.73 trillion) in assets under management. The firm debuted a tokenized share class for its flagship euro cash fund on Ethereum last year.

Crédit Agricole said the token fits into its ACT 2028 plan, which includes a broader push into tokenized finance.

Circle's CRCL stock page shows an Alpha Score of 28, reflecting the competitive pressure in the stablecoin space as traditional banks move in.