Société Générale issues a dollar-pegged stablecoin! The veteran European bank enters the new battlefield of Blockchain.

French financial giant Société Générale officially announced the launch of its own dollar-pegged stablecoin "EUR CoinVertible (USD)", deployed on the Ethereum Blockchain. This is the first issuance of a dollar-pegged stablecoin by a major European bank, marking another important milestone in the integration of TradFi and Decentralized Finance.

The new strategy for the stablecoin of Industrial Bank: Targeting institutional users

The newly launched stablecoin is named EUR CoinVertible (USD). Although it is based on USD, its full name continues the EUR CoinVertible stablecoin previously launched by Intesa Sanpaolo in 2023, which is pegged to the Euro. This stablecoin is deployed on Ethereum and is technically and administratively managed by SG-FORGE, a subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo. The previously launched "EUR CoinVertible" has only 477 million in issuance so far.

Unlike most stablecoins on the market aimed at the general public, SG-FORGE's new stablecoin is exclusively for institutional investors and complies with the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Why choose stablecoins? The layout logic of Industrial Bank.

The logic behind Industrial Bank's issuance of coins is to enhance the transaction and settlement efficiency of traditional assets on the Blockchain. According to SG-FORGE CEO Jean-Marc Stenger, stablecoins will assist in driving the clearing process of Tokenized Assets, thus reducing costs and improving liquidity. He pointed out that these stablecoins are the "core elements" in building the infrastructure for future financial markets.

In addition, this USD-pegged stablecoin is 100% backed by bank reserves, stored in custodial banks approved by the French central bank, to ensure transparency and stability.

Confronting the Giants: Challenging the Monopoly of Tether and Circle

Although the stablecoin market is currently dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), it is clear that Societe Generale does not intend to compete head-on with these retail-oriented giants. Stenger emphasized that SG-FORGE offers "compliant, institutional-specific products" aimed at large financial institutions and asset managers that are subject to strict regulatory norms. This strategy also makes IB's stablecoin have a significantly different positioning from ordinary DeFi projects, and is more likely to be incorporated into enterprise-level blockchain applications, such as security token issuance (STO) and smart contract automatic settlement.

Europe's banks test the waters of blockchain: more competitors may join

The entry of Industrial Bank may encourage more traditional European banks to follow suit. With the MiCA regulations set to come into effect in 2024, the demand for compliant stablecoins across the entire European financial system is expected to further expand. Market observers point out that if this product gains market acceptance, it is not ruled out that more banks will explore the issuance of their own stablecoins in the future.

This article discusses that Société Générale issues a USD-pegged stablecoin! The traditional European bank enters the new battlefield of blockchain, first appearing on ChainNews ABMedia.