Invesco Files for an Onchain Stablecoins Fund While Crédit Agricole Launches a EUR Coin

Invesco, which manages about $2.45 trillion, filed for an onchain fund targeting stablecoin issuers, while over in France, Crédit Agricole, the country's second-biggest bank, launched a euro stablecoin of its own. That’s two major TradFi players moving deeper into stablecoin infrastructure in the same week.

TL;DR

• Invesco filed with the SEC for the Invesco Stablecoin Reserves Onchain Fund, a tokenized money market fund that gives stablecoin issuers somewhere to park their reserves.

• Crédit Agricole launched EURXT, a euro-pegged, MiCA-compliant stablecoin on Ethereum, starting with around 20 million tokens backed one-to-one by euro reserves.

Invesco Files for a Stablecoin Reserve Fund 💵

Invesco, which runs around $2.45 trillion, filed for the Invesco Stablecoin Reserves Onchain Fund with the SEC. It’s a money market fund built specifically for stablecoin issuers to hold their reserves. 

So, instead of parking cash in a bank or buying U.S. Treasuries directly, a stablecoin issuer could invest its reserves in this tokenized money market fund, keep them readily accessible, and earn a yield while they sit there. The fund uses Superstate’s blockchain infrastructure.

What kicked it off was the GENIUS Act, the U.S. stablecoin law that spells out what issuers have to hold against their tokens. The moment the rules said reserves had to sit in safe, easy-to-sell assets, running those reserves became a business, and the biggest managers in the world lined up for it.

Stablecoin reserves are becoming big business, hundreds of billions that have to sit somewhere safe and liquid. Invesco wants to be the one holding that pile and earning the yield on it. Not long ago, this business didn't exist, and now it's an entirely new market.  

Crédit Agricole Launches a Euro Stablecoin 🏦

Crédit Agricole, France's second-biggest bank, launched EURXT, its own euro stablecoin. 

EURXT is built on Ethereum through the bank's servicing arm, Caceis. It plays by Europe's MiCA rules, and it went live with about 20 million tokens, each one backed by a euro sitting in reserve at Caceis Bank. It's already been used to settle a purchase into a tokenized Amundi money market fund, which is the same tokenized-fund idea sitting right at the heart of the Invesco story.

Right now, it's small. For the record, there are about 124 million of Société Générale's EURCV floating around and roughly 378 million of Circle's EURC. And the whole euro stablecoin market is tiny compared to the dollar one, sitting at about half a percent of the total, even after doubling in the past year under MiCA. 

A group of 37 European banks, working together under the name Qivalis, is planning to launch its own euro coin later this year as well.

Stablecoin and tokenization have been two of the biggest stories in this market cycle, as Wall Street and payment companies are adopting internet-native dollars (and euros) at an increasing rate.

Elsewhere in Bitcoin 📖

A quick look at what else has been going on:

• Europe started rewriting its MiCA crypto rulebook as the July 1 deadline passed

• State Street launched its own GENIUS Act reserve fund (SSCXX) 

• The 37-bank Qivalis group is still on track to launch its own euro stablecoin later this year

Your fellow stacker in sats,

Patrick Lowry

PS: If you want to see how the value of goods and services changes when priced in Bitcoin, check out the Samara Bitcoin CPI. It might give you a new perspective on holding Bitcoin on your company's balance sheet or just as an individual.

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