Sabadell, Spain's fourth-largest bank, has confirmed it will join Qivalis, the consortium of European banks formed to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026. CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno confirmed the decision at a press conference in Madrid on 5 May 2026, describing the initiative as a European project designed to make transactions more efficient and secure.
The Qivalis consortium, previously announced with twelve member banks including ING, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, and BBVA, is designed to counter US dominance in digital payments through a MiCAR-compliant euro-backed stablecoin. Sabadell's addition extends Spanish bank representation within the alliance.
Recently, Qivalis also selected Fireblocks as its core infrastructure partner, with the move coming just ahead of the launch of the consortium, planned for the second half of 2026. The collaboration enabled Fireblocks to offer the technology infrastructure to issue and secure the stablecoin, utilising its tokenization engine and ERC-20F standard, built for permissioned access, compliance controls, and audit-ready reporting.
Further Spanish institutions in discussions
Bankinter, Spain's fifth-largest bank by market value, confirmed it is in talks with the Qivalis consortium and indicated it would provide an update in early summer. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that non-listed Spanish institutions, including Abanca, Kutxabank, and Cecabank, are also considering joining, broadening the potential participation beyond the major listed lenders.
The expansion of Spanish interest in Qivalis reflects growing pressure on traditional banks across Europe to engage with blockchain technology and stablecoins as the sector grows rapidly and is increasingly seen as competitive with conventional payment infrastructure. Stablecoins account for approximately 99% of the global digital asset settlement market in dollar-denominated form, with the Qivalis initiative representing the most significant organised European effort to establish a regulated euro-pegged alternative.
Furthermore, Gonzalez-Bueno said Qivalis is primarily designed to make transactions more efficient and secure, and that Sabadell believes the European project makes sense.
