ING Bank’s MiCA-Compliant Stablecoin Initiative Unveiled

Dutch banking giant ING is developing a “stablecoin” in alignment with European MiCA regulations, according to CoinDesk, citing its own sources.

The initiative may take the form of a consortium involving other financial institutions and cryptocurrency service providers, the publication’s sources revealed.

“ING is working on a stablecoin project with several other banks. Progress is slow as some partners require board approval to establish a joint venture,” one source specified.

MiCA regulations for “stablecoins” came into effect on June 30, 2024. The stringent restrictions imposed on issuers were criticized by Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, the company behind USDT. He argued that the legislation creates systemic risk due to the requirement to hold at least 60% of reserves in European banks.

In November, the firm ceased support for the euro-pegged EURT. In the EU, Tether decided to focus on partnerships with third-party projects like MiCA license holders Quantoz Payments and StablR, as well as promoting its RWA platform Hadron.

The issuer of USDC and Tether’s main competitor, Circle, received approval to issue stablecoins in the EEA back in July 2024. By February 2025, ten such firms were listed in the registry.

Earlier, Standard Chartered predicted that the total market capitalization of “stablecoins” could grow to ~$2 trillion by 2028.