EURC (Euro Coin)

EURC is a regulated euro-denominated stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Financial that maintains one-to-one parity with the euro, fully backed by reserves held in euro-denominated accounts at licensed financial institutions, operating as MiCA-compliant Electronic Money Token rather than central bank digital currency.

Circle holds an Electronic Money Institution license in France, positioning EURC as the EU's leading private digital euro option compliant with MiCA's EMT framework effective June 2024. EURC operates across multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Stellar, and Base networks, enabling programmable euro-denominated payments, DeFi applications, cross-border settlements, and smart contract integration while maintaining regulatory compliance and reserve transparency.

EURC serves distinct role from proposed Digital Euro CBDC, operating as private sector payment infrastructure rather than central bank liability, subject to EMT regulations requiring reserve backing, redemption rights, and supervision by EMT issuers must be credit institutions or authorized electronic money institutions. Use cases include euro-denominated stablecoin trading pairs on exchanges, cross-border remittances avoiding traditional banking rails, DeFi protocol liquidity in EUR rather than USD, treasury management for European businesses, and programmable payment solutions for commerce platforms. Circle's dual stablecoin strategy with USDC for dollar exposure and EURC for euro exposure provides institutional and retail users regulatory-compliant alternatives to CBDCs while maintaining blockchain programmability and interoperability benefits. EURC competes with other euro stablecoins in attracting EU market share ahead of Digital Euro deployment.