Spanish fintech firm Monei has initiated trials of the EURM, a euro-backed stablecoin, under the supervision of the Bank of Spain within the regulatory sandbox. The trial, which began in January, involves a group of individual users and focuses on assessing the trading capabilities of EURM. Each user participating in the trial will undergo identity verification, upload their wallet, deposit €10 into their account, and subsequently redeem €10. The stablecoin is backed 1:1 in euro currency, with the corresponding funds stored in Spanish banks, including BBVA and CaixaBank.
Monei's CEO, Alex Saiz Verdaguer, views the trial as a significant step towards the complete digitization of payments. He envisions new stablecoins like EURM offering opportunities for more secure, programmable, economical, democratic, and free money transfers. The stablecoin is designed to facilitate transactions between any two individuals with access to a mobile phone within milliseconds, with commission fees expected to be only "a few thousand euros per transaction." Additionally, EURM's infrastructure provides various enterprise options, such as real-time, bot-based monthly or daily employee payments and productivity bonuses.
The Bank of Spain, concurrently, has plans to launch its own wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022. Verdaguer hinted that the euro could become the central bank's preferred technology. The Spanish CBDC initiative is distinct as it is declared to be independent of the broader digital euro project, which, if implemented, would encompass all eurozone economies. Furthermore, Spain's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has announced the early implementation of EU cryptoasset market regulations, preceding the stipulated deadline.
