by Ryan Weeks

StablR, a stablecoin startup that launched last year, today announced a €3.3 million ($3.5 million) seed round to build out its euro-based stablecoin business.

Deribit, Maven 11, Theta Capital, Folkvang and Blocktech all participated in the round. No valuation was disclosed.

StablR began issuing its euro-backed stablecoin, which carries the ticker EurR, on October 12 — and said that more than 10 million of the tokens have been minted in its first month. The startup began operations a little over a year before, in August 2022.

In its announcement, StablR said it hopes to transform the stablecoin market by establishing “a fresh benchmark for stability and trustworthiness.” The startup highlighted several core features of the product. It is officially registered as a Virtual Financial Asset Issuer in Malta; it will provide a high level of visibility on its reserves through daily statements brought on-chain through Chainlink; and funds are fully segregated from the issuer in an Irish Trust that is managed by an independent asset manager.

“The assets are held in a fully segregated and independent trust which invests the funds in a regulated money market fund which invests in short term government bonds, creating the lowest counterparty risk in the industry,” founder Gijs op de Weegh told The Block.

The market for euro-pegged stablecoin

StablR hopes it can bring liquidity to both DeFi and CeFi markets, ultimately bringing more users into the crypto ecosystem.

While stablecoins pegged the to U.S. dollar are already a major part of that ecosystem, euro-linked alternatives have not quite caught on. Data tracked by The Block Research puts the total euro stablecoin supply on Ethereum today at a little under 590 million.

Op de Weegh said dollar-dominance in stablecoin markets mirrors traditional financial market structure, but argued regulatory clarity in Europe may soon change things in crypto.

“Historically pricing of assets and commodities are USD denominated, which is the same in crypto. There is a demand for euro, however the liquidity has been lacking and therefore euro-priced assets were not as competitive as USD priced assets. The demand is growing and grows much faster when MiCA is enforced on July 1,” he said.

“Euro stablecoins are important for the European region, as consumers want to buy assets priced in euros, payments and lending are done in euros and for international trade the on-chain FX market is a tremendous chance to streamline their business.”

Link to article on The Block.