While Tether—the issuer behind USDT—wrapped up its business in the European crypto market earlier this year, it left an empty room for other stablecoins to serve over 31 million users across the region. To fill this void, various stablecoins, including RLUSD and USDC, are competing, and EURØP has become the latest addition to it.
A recent release from Ripple announces that Schuman Financial has integrated its MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin EURØP onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
EURØP is a euro-denominated stablecoin, and it can be redeemed 1:1 for the euro. The stablecoin is issued by Schuman Financial—a licensed stablecoin issuer—and regulated by the French banking authority ACPR.
“EURØP on the XRPL combines the resilience of a global blockchain with euro-native liquidity and compliance at its core,” said Martin Bruncko, Founder and CEO of Schuman Financial, adding, “This will give Europe and euro-denominated financial markets an integral infrastructure for the next wave of financial innovation, which is happening on-chain.”
EURØP leverages the XRP Ledger’s fast, low-cost transactions to attract users. Yet, experts are questioning its ability to compete with existing stablecoins that have established market presence.
Tether, with a $150 billion market cap, was forced out due to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, which impose strict requirements like 60% cash reserves, issuance caps, and EU-regulated bank compliance.
Can EURØP compete with legacy stablecoins—USDC & RLUSD?
The new euro stablecoin EURØP aims to capitalize on this opportunity by adhering to MiCA’s stringent rules, including 1:1 liquid reserve backing and transparency reporting. However, its pathway to growth could face stiff competition from Ripple’s RLUSD and Circle’s USDC. Both of these stablecoins comply with MiCA regulations and have already gained traction among European crypto users.
USDC is currently in direct competition with USDT, with it positioned as the second-largest stablecoin in terms of market supply. While USDT has a dominance of 62.26%, USDC holds 24.74% of the total in the stablecoin market cap, which currently sits at $245.9 billion.
Similar to EURØP, RLUSD is also launched on the XRP Ledger, but its peg to the US dollar could prevent users who want their funds to sit in euro denominations. This might be a plus point for EURØP, but Ripple’s legacy and RLUSD’s already-wide market dominance might push it forward across European countries.
At the time of publishing, RLUSD has a total market supply of over 310 million. While the number is quite smaller in comparison with USDT and USDC, its supply is surging rapidly, and given that it is hardly just one year old, the future potential for RLUSD is brighter.
As Europe’s crypto market adapts to MiCA, the next six months will be crucial in determining which stablecoin emerges as the region’s new leader.
Also read: Ethereum’s Market Cap Surpasses Bank of America as Price Hits $2,727
