Societe Generale's crypto subsidary Forge launches euro stablecoin on Ethereum

Societe Generale's crypto arm, Forge, announced plans to launch a euro stablecoin, "CoinVertible," on the Ethereum blockchain.

The investment bank plans to "bridge the gap between traditional capital markets and the digital assets ecosystem," according to a release. The token is based on the Compliant Architecture for Security Tokens (CAST) framework. CAST works with financial institutions to offer digital assets, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and post-trade settlement.

CoinVertible will offer "robust" settlement options for on-chain transactions, on-chain liquidity, and a solution for intra-day liquidity needs, such as margin calls.

Stablecoins will be a "key element to increase trust and confidence in the native crypto ecosystem," said Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO at Forge, in a statement. 

"This issuance is a major step in Societe Generale–FORGE's roadmap to deliver innovative solutions to its clients, either real-money institutions and corporates or entities of the crypto industry, and to facilitate the emergence of new market infrastructures based on blockchain technology," he said.

CoinVertible will be listed on exchanges and third-party platforms in the coming months. 

The euro stablecoin market continues to pale in comparison to US dollar stablecoins on Ethereum. US dollar stablecoins make up 99.37% of the total stablecoin supply on Ethereum, according to data via The Block. 

Furthermore, euro stablecoin supply on Ethereum has fallen to about $591 million from $665 million in just over a year.

EU crypto regulation

CoinVertible comes just as European Union regulators are about to pass the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. 

MiCA will see a final vote in the European Parliament today. The process was delayed in January. The delay was deemed "technical" and most likely attributed to issues translating the almost 400-page file into the 24 official languages of the bloc, an EU Parliament spokesperson told The Block at the time.

MiCA is one of the first EU regimes to supervise the crypto sector. The regulation outlines rules for licensing firms offering crypto services in the EU and regulates stablecoin issuance.