EURC, which is pegged one-to-one with the euro, is already available on Ethereum and Avalanche.
Posted September 26, 2023 at 4:56 pm EST.
Euro Coin (EURC), the Euro-backed stablecoin issued by Circle, is now live on the Stellar blockchain, the companies announced on Monday. The digital asset is now available across three chains, including Ethereum and Avalanche.
Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), launched EURC in June 2022. EURC is pegged one-to-one to the Euro under a full reserve model and is backed by a mixture of cash and European government debt. EURC has grown to a market capitalization of more than $52 million, according to CoinMarketCap data.
“The launch of EURC on Stellar has the potential to radically enhance European remittance corridors, cross-border payments, treasury management, and aid disbursement,” said Rachel Mayer, Circle’s vice president of Product Management, in a statement.
Circle highlighted that it plans to work with Stellar to provide access to financial assistance for those impacted by humanitarian crises that impact local financial institutions. For example, EURC is expected to integrate into disbursement and cash assistance systems like Stellar Aid Assist, which is meant to deliver relief funds in a fast, affordable and transparent manner.
Stellar said that Ripio, a Latin American cryptocurrency company expanding into Spain, has already added EURC on Stellar to its wallet app.
The news comes a day after the European Central Bank’s president, Christine Lagarde, told lawmakers on the EU Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee that a digital euro is still at least two years away, though Keyrock CEO Kevin de Patoul told CoinDesk that the timing is right for a euro stablecoin to “gain momentum.”