摘要：Spanish fintech firm MONEI has started the trials of a euro-backed stablecoin EURM under the supervision of the Bank of...
Spanish fintech firm MONEI has started the trials of a euro-backed stablecoin EURM under the supervision of the Bank of Spain.
As the announcement, published on MONEI’s website on Jan. 29, specifies, the trial in the regulatory sandbox, supervised by the Bank of Spain, began in January. It features a group of individual users, limited to minimize the error margin.
The trial will examine the transaction capability of EURM: a user will verify their identity, upload the wallet, load up to 10 euros to his account and exchange them for 10 EURM. Every EURM is backed on 1:1 par by euro and stored at Spanish banks, such as BBVA and Caixabank.
Alex Saiz Verdaguer, CEO of MONEI, called the trial “another step on our path toward the complete digitalization of payments.” He believes the new stablecoin will provide an opportunity for sending money in a “more secure, programmable, economical, democratic and liberalized” way than ever.
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According to the announcement, EURM will facilitate transactions between any two people with access to a a mobile phone in “milliseconds.” At the same time, the commission fee will take up to “thousandths of a euro per transaction.” The stablecoin’s infrastructure also features several corporate options, such as monthly or daily employee payments or productivity bonuses in real time “based on robotic instructions.”
The Bank of Spain announced the launch of its own wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) program back in 2022. While later MONEI’s Verdaguer hinted at the possibility of EURM becoming the preferred technology for the Bank of Spain, in January 2024, the latter announced a separate testing in partnership with Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain.
The Spanish CBDC program is unique, as it was publicly stated to be independent of the digital euro project, which, if implemented, would cover all economies in the eurozone. Meanwhile, the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation announced it would implement the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation six months before the deadline.
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