StablR, a euro stablecoin startup that began operating just over a year ago, has successfully raised €3.3 million ($3.5 million) in a seed funding round.
The investment comes from a consortium of backers, including crypto derivatives exchange Deribit and venture firms Maven 11, Theta Capital, Folkvang, and Blocktech, according to a Tuesday announcement from the firm.
StablR introduced its euro-backed stablecoin, EurR, in October, and within the first month, more than 10 million tokens were minted, a report from The Block said, citing StablR founder Gijs op de Weegh.
The stablecoin is intended to operate across several blockchains with the help of the Qredo Network, which according to StablR’s website will ensure instant access through atomic swaps, low costs and high transaction speeds.
Based in Malta and EU-regulated
While all of StablR’s key team members are Dutch, the startup is officially registered as a Virtual Financial Asset Issuer in Malta, which means that it falls under EU regulations such as the new MiCA framework.
It has previously been reported that the MiCA rules could pose a challenge for stablecoin issuers, but this does not appear to be a problem for StablR.
The firm said all funds are held securely segregated from the issuer within an independent Irish Trust managed by a third-party asset manager, in accordance with European regulations.
Unlike many other stablecoins, all funds backing StablR are held in 100% cash reserve, according to the firm’s website.
Challenging US dollar dominance
StablR’s mission extends beyond decentralized finance (DeFi) and centralized finance (CeFi) markets, with the goal of attracting more users to the crypto ecosystem.
While dollar-pegged stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT currently dominate the market, euro-linked alternatives have yet to gain widespread adoption, with less than €590 million worth of these stablecoins in circulation.
However, regulatory clarity in Europe, particularly the Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation enforced on July 1, 2023, is expected to stimulate demand for euro-pegged assets, the StablR founder told The Block.
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