Membrane Finance, a Finnish fintech company, is developing a European alternative to the USD stablecoin and has successfully obtained an Electronic Money Licence from the country’s regulatory authority. The company has also raised €2 million in seed funding.
With this e-money license, Membrane’s product, EUROe, will be the first regulated EUR-based, full-reserve stablecoin in the EU. CEO and co-founder Juha Viitala remarked, “We’ve been working towards this very goal for the last 18 months. Securing an EU-level license and the opportunity to build a truly regulated EUR-based stablecoin is significant for us and the broader European cryptocurrency market and community.”
Set to launch in early 2023, EUROe will convert fiat Euros into a 1:1 pegged digital currency, usable in transactions across all major blockchains. To generate revenue, Membrane Finance will invest a portion of the fiat reserves in “low-risk assets.”
Viitala emphasized the importance of competitive positioning, stating, “We have a strong protectionist perspective in building EUROe. An EU version must be introduced to compete globally with other currencies. Keeping euro reserves in the ETA region and preventing reserve accumulation outside the EU is essential for maintaining competitiveness.”
The firm anticipates that the forthcoming EU MiCa regulatory framework for crypto assets will facilitate greater collaboration with traditional financial institutions. The recent €2 million funding round was backed by Maki.vc, a Finnish seed stage venture capital firm.
Paavo Räisänen, partner at Maki Ventures and lead investor for the round, noted, “Recent events in the crypto market have highlighted the need for trusted systems that connect traditional financial markets with crypto ecosystems. Stablecoins are an essential part of the transition towards blockchain-based money infrastructure, and Europeans deserve a full-reserve euro stablecoin regulated by a EU-based financial authority.”