Société Générale taps Bullish to debut MiCA-licensed USDCV stablecoin

Bullish Europe has become the first platform to list Société Générale-Forge’s USDCV stablecoin, expanding access to regulated digital assets in the European Union.

According to a Tuesday announcement, Bullish is the first to offer USD CoinVertible (USDCV) to its customers through its German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulated trading platform.

The news follows an early June announcement that the French financial services company Société Générale-Forge intended to launch the stablecoin with US-based financial services firm Bank of New York Mellon as the custodian.

The debut also builds on the company’s 2023 launch of its euro-pegged stablecoin EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) for institutional customers. Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Société Générale-Forge representative said USDCV aims to serve both the retail and institutional markets, intended for remittances, foreign exchange, payments and as a store of value.

Both USDCV and EURCV qualify as e-money tokens in the EU and are freely transferable under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) rules. Société Générale-Forge has secured an electronic money institution license from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, the French regulator, the representative said.

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Related: Custody and transfers of non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins not restricted — ESMA

Europe is not sleeping on stablecoins

United States-based initiatives have mainly dominated the stablecoin space, but Europe has stepped up activity.

At the end of July, EURAU, a new euro stablecoin venture backed by Deutsche Bank’s DWS, Flow Traders and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy, debuted on the Ethereum blockchain. The same stablecoin received approval by BaFin in early July.

Also in July, stablecoin issuer Paxos launched the Global Dollar (USDG) stablecoin in the EU. The issuer is compliant with MiCA and also has oversight from regulators in Finland and Singapore.

Earlier this year, 10 stablecoin issuers received approval under MiCA, though market leader Tether’s USDt (USDT) was not among them.

Related: Bitcoin Suisse legal chief flags gaps in EU, Swiss stablecoin rules

European lawmakers are wary of stablecoins

Despite regulatory progress, EU officials have warned about risks tied to stablecoins, particularly those issued outside the bloc.

Last week, a senior Bank of Italy official warned that stablecoins issued by multiple entities across different countries pose significant risks to the European Union’s financial system unless they are strictly limited. Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), also called for policymakers to address gaps in stablecoin regulation earlier this month.

Lagarde pointed to stablecoins issued beyond the “robust” MiCA framework. Her remarks also follow late July warnings by ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf that US stablecoins are a danger to the euro:

“If we forgo a common approach, we risk fuelling instability, regulatory arbitrage and global US dollar dominance.”

In mid-April, Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finance warned that US stablecoin policies are a bigger threat to the local economy than US tariffs. Like Schaaf, he warned that the growing appeal of US stablecoins to Europeans should not be underestimated.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight