Luxembourg-licensed Banking Circle expands into fiat-to-stablecoin settlement

Banking Circle has rolled out institutional stablecoin settlement services after securing regulatory approval in Luxembourg.

According to a Monday announcement from the Luxembourg-based bank, the expansion follows its April 15 registration as a Crypto Asset Service Provider with the country’s financial regulator, enabling regulated conversion between fiat and stablecoins for institutional clients.

Support currently includes USDC issued by Circle, USDG from Paxos, and the bank’s own euro-pegged token EURI, extending capabilities first introduced with EURI in August 2024.

Serving more than 750 payment firms, financial institutions, and marketplaces, Banking Circle said its infrastructure processes over €1.5 trillion, or about $1.7 trillion, in annual transaction volume. Chief digital asset officer Kirit Bhatia stated in the release that stablecoins are “a natural extension” of the bank’s existing systems, adding that they play a key role in lowering costs and improving settlement efficiency.

Banking Circle expands foothold as euro stablecoin race intensifies

Banking Circle’s earlier launch of EURI positioned it among the first banks to issue a euro stablecoin aligned with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, with the CASP approval now allowing it to scale regulated services across clients.

Competition across the region has accelerated as traditional banks and crypto firms build compliant payment rails under MiCA. French lender Société Générale, through its digital asset arm SG-FORGE, introduced the euro stablecoin EURCV in April 2023 on Ethereum and later expanded to additional networks as part of its multi-chain strategy.

On April 15, SG-FORGE integrated its dollar-denominated token USDCV into MetaMask, giving users access to a regulated stablecoin issued by a European bank.

Swiss-based Sygnum added EURCV to its B2B platform in January 2025, targeting institutional clients and partner banks. In September 2025, a group of lenders, including ING, UniCredit, and CaixaBank, announced plans for Qivalis, a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin scheduled for release in the second half of 2026.

The consortium has since expanded to 12 banks, adding BBVA, BNP Paribas, and DZ Bank, and partnered with Fireblocks to support custody and tokenization ahead of launch.

Crypto-native firms continue to build competing infrastructure. In April 2025, Circle introduced the Circle Payments Network to offer managed settlement services for banks and payment providers. 

Separately, an April 21 partnership between Coinbase and global payments platform Nium enables businesses to fund cross-border transfers using USDC and settle in either fiat or stablecoins across more than 190 countries.