Key takeaways

• Euro stablecoins are poised to scale: if financial services move on-chain, Euro volumes could “go into the hundreds of billions”, matching Europe’s share of global capital markets.
• “Flight to quality” will narrow the field: institutional users will gravitate to fully regulated, Big-Four-audited issuers that custody reserves at systemic banks.
• Banks feel both threat and opportunity: crypto-native issuers promise “bankless banking”, while banks warn that many use-cases cannibalise fee income.
• New use-cases are emerging beyond payments: on-chain FX, tokenised money-market funds, collateral posting and corporate treasury sweeps could dwarf today’s trading volumes.
• Regulation remains the gating factor: Europe is still “in MiCA 1.0, trying to digest it”, while global inconsistencies in how a stablecoin is classified (payment token, commodity, new asset class) hinder cross-border composability.

Panelists

• Martin Bruncko, Founder & CEO – Schuman Financial
• Coralie Billmann, Managing Director France – Circle
• Peter Hübli, Head of Digital Assets – Zürcher Kantonalbank
• Waqar Chaudry, Head of Digital Assets, Financing & Securities Services – Standard Chartered
• Raphael Bloch, Co-founder – The Big Whale (moderator)

Euro stablecoins: from niche to mainstream

“We’re 100 % convinced this market is going to reach the hundreds of billions”, Martin Bruncko told the audience.

Uptake has been slow so far, but his logic is clear: if Europe’s capital markets move on-chain, on-chain euros have to grow with them - just as dollars dominate today’s crypto trading.

Circle’s Coralie Billmann agreed that adoption is “just starting.” Treasury teams, she said, want “a natural exposure to euros” i.e. digital cash without adding a foreign-exchange leg. Building trust is equally important, which is why Circle bases its licences in jurisdictions with tough, transparent rules - Coralie cites this as key to Circle’s success.

The numbers are still modest: euro-backed coins clear about €600 million in circulation today, with EUROC in the lead at ~$200m despite almost zero marketing. The panel expects that to scale quickly as corporates pilot on-chain treasuries and cross-border settlements.

Beyond payments: the next wave of utility

The panel highlighted four near-term applications that could lift stablecoins from fringe payment tools to essential market infrastructure:

1. On-chain FX – daily euro-dollar turnover in traditional markets is five times larger than total crypto centralized exchange volume, Bruncko noted. Mid-sized corporates paying 30–50 bps spreads could migrate to stablecoin rails.
2. Tokenised money-market funds – an “easy and obvious” destination for idle balances, offering yield while remaining blockchain-native.
3. Collateral posting – today posting collateral on FX or interest-rate swaps is costly and clunky in fiat; within six to twelve months it could be done directly in stable-coins.
4. Treasury optimisation – stablecoin sweeps let CFOs move liquidity from Singapore to the U.S. in minutes instead of days, eliminating cut-off windows and nostro balances.

But the talk is not purely hypothetical- Chaudry shares how Standard Chartered is already live: its Hong Kong dollar project with Animoca Brands and HKT leans on 24/7 value transfer, and the bank has instant collateral mirroring live with an exchange.

Banks vs. crypto-natives: competition - or symbiosis?

Despite the opportunities, even the seating plan telegraphed the divide: crypto-native founders on one side, bankers on the other.

• Bank view: ZKB’s Peter Hübli stated: ”I like the way that you want to make the customers happy, the problem is that most of the use cases are against my revenue as a bank!”, pointing out that convincing senior management will be tough if the gains accrue solely to clients.
• Crypto-natives: “We’re going after banks - ‘bankless banking’,” Bruncko quipped, unveiling an internet-banking style interface that moves euros wallet-to-wallet, adding “I think you should be worried. We are going after you. Disruption is coming”.

Billmann tempered the debate, pointing out that under reserve rules in MiCA and in the proposed U.S. GENIUS Act, a stablecoin is minted only after the issuer parks an equal amount of fiat or cash equivalent with a regulated bank - evidence that banks remain integral to the plumbing, at least for now.

Regulation & the coming “flight to quality”

Europe may have moved first with MiCA, yet the framework is still a work in progress.

The Level-2 Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) - detailed rules on capital, disclosure and reporting - are only now being drafted and transposed into national handbooks. Firms are therefore “digesting” shifting guidance from Brussels and from each member-state supervisor, which keeps many projects in wait-and-see mode.

Outside Europe the labels diverge even more. Singapore treats stablecoins as payments instrument, parts of the Gulf regulate them like commodities, while U.S. policymakers increasingly speak of them as a sui generis (stand-alone) asset class that doesn’t slot neatly into securities or banking law. This patchwork, Waqar Chaudry warned, still blocks the kind of friction-free, cross-border composability essential for mainstream adoption.

So what will separate winners?

“Strong regulator, systemic-bank custody, Big Four audit, and universal distribution,” Bruncko said.

The room caught the implication: not every issuer will clear all four hurdles - expect consolidation as the rulebooks harden.

Tokenised assets: promise vs. reality

Digital bonds are already live - but investors can’t tell the difference. Switzerland’s fully regulated SDX exchange has issued blockchain-based bonds since 2020, yet buyers “don’t even notice they’re digital - and gain no price advantage,” Peter Hübli admitted. The lesson: moving an instrument to a ledger is not, by itself, a selling point.

Where might tokenisation really add value?

Hübli pointed to two places:

• Fund primary-market plumbing – subscriptions, redemptions and transfer-agency work still rely on 20-year-old, multi-layer processes stuffed with manual checks. Smart contracts could replace a maze of intermediaries and slash both cost and error.
• Fractional blue-chip shares – many marquee equities trade in units too pricey for retail investors. Splitting them on-chain and settling around the clock could open new pockets of demand.

Bruncko put it in consumer terms: we’re at the pre-iPhone stage of tokenisation - everyone senses the potential, but the killer user experience is still missing.

The panel’s consensus: tokenised products will only scale when they deliver a clear, front-end benefit - liquidity, granularity, yield or access - while smart contracts quietly handle the back-end plumbing

Fragmentation, stress-tests & what quality really means

With 40-plus stablecoins now topping the $100m mark-cap line, one audience member asked whether proliferation creates CFO headaches - does the sprawl create risk?

Martin Bruncko thinks not for long. A buyer-driven “flight to quality” will narrow the list to a few issuers that tick every institutional box - robust regulation, systemic-bank custody, Big Four audits and deep exchange liquidity.

Coralie Billmann agreed: if a coin isn’t liquid on the top chains, treasurers simply won’t touch it.

Quality is more than branding. Both Circle and Schuman perform regulator-mandated stress tests for redemption spikes, mirroring bank-level prudential standards. As more issuers adopt these bank-grade drills, the systemic-risk question should fade - and the weakest coins will likely fade with it.

Whats next - GBP stablecoin in sight?

Both Circle and Schuman said it'd be interesting to consider issuing a pound-backed coin once the UK finalises its own rulebook. The Treasury and FCA are drafting a principles-based regime that would let overseas issuers operate in the UK so long as they ring-fence reserves in a statutory trust with a regulated custodian and meet ongoing disclosure tests.

If that framework lands on schedule, the pound could become the first G7 currency after the euro and dollar to gain a large, fully regulated presence on-chain

The Takeaway

Stable-coins and other tokenised assets are no longer side-bets for crypto traders; they are fast becoming core financial infrastructure. Regulation is maturing, weaker issuers will fall away, and the winners will offer bank-grade safeguards plus round-the-clock liquidity. Europe’s digital euro - and, perhaps soon, a digital pound - could give treasurers, brokers and banks liquid 24/7 settlement rails they cannot afford to ignore.

About Cryptio

Cryptio is the leading financial data platform for tokenization compliance, crypto accounting and lending. Trusted by over 450 clients - including publicly listed companies like Circle, Exodus, Bitcoin Depot and Semler Scientific, leading crypto-native organizations like Uniswap Labs, World, and MetaMask, and partnered with Big4 audit firms like KPMG and Deloitte, Cryptio delivers an enterprise-grade data layer that translates complex on-chain activity into auditable, GAAP and IFRS-ready records.

Explore how Cryptio can transform your financial integrity today.

Book a demo.