One of France’s oldest banking groups, ODDO BHF, is taking its first real step into the crypto space. The 175-year-old financial house, which manages more than €150 billion ($173 billion) in assets, has rolled out a new euro-backed stablecoin called EUROD.
It’s an unusual step for a traditional bank, but it shows how Europe’s financial sector is changing, with more established players now exploring ways to bring blockchain into everyday finance.
For ODDO BHF—long known for private wealth and investment banking, this is a sign that the lines between old finance and new are starting to blur.
EUROD heads to Bit2Me
The token will first appear on Bit2Me, a Madrid-based crypto exchange that’s become one of the biggest names in the Spanish-speaking market. Backed by Telefónica and banking groups like Unicaja and BBVA, Bit2Me has built a reputation as a regulated bridge between banks and crypto users.
Founded in 2014 and registered with the Bank of Spain, Bit2Me lets users buy, sell, and store digital currencies. Earlier this year, it raised about €30 million ($35 million) in a funding round led by Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin.
Its CEO, Leif Ferreira, said the listing of EUROD represents “another important step” in Bit2Me’s goal to offer trusted and compliant digital assets to users and institutions.
A digital euro under MiCA rules
According to a joint statement shared with media outlets, EUROD has been built as a low-volatility digital representation of the euro, backed by the oversight and regulatory standards of the EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) framework.
By introducing a regulated, euro-backed token, ODDO BHF aims to appeal to both everyday users and large institutions seeking a safer way to utilize digital money while adhering to Europe’s strict regulatory framework. The idea is to make crypto transactions as reliable as traditional banking, but faster and easier to move.
Europe’s growing interest in digital euros
The timing of EUROD’s launch isn’t random. Across Europe, several major banks are working on their own versions of euro-backed stablecoins. Earlier, Société Générale-FORGE introduced EURCV, another euro-backed stablecoin.
Last month, a group of nine European banks, including ING, Banca Sella, Danske Bank, DekaBank, and CaixaBank, teamed up to issue a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin as well.
Though the global market is still dominated by dollar-pegged tokens, the arrival of EUROD signals that Europe’s financial institutions are preparing to compete seriously in the stablecoin space, offering options that combine the trust of traditional banking with the efficiency of blockchain technology.