European consortium of banks plans to introduce stablecoin

Bitcoin continued to decline last week after better-than-expected macroeconomic data from the US reduced the likelihood of further interest rate cuts by the Fed this year.

GDP data were revised upwards in particular – the annual growth was 3,8%, compared to the forecast of 3,3%, which strengthened the arguments of supporters of the “no rush to ease monetary policy” strategy.

Altcoins also saw further declines, with the overall market capitalization decreasing by 10%. The smallest, more speculative projects saw declines of up to 30%, reflecting growing risk aversion.

In the coming week, investors' attention will focus on further data from the US labor market – the JOLTS index, the ADP report on employment changes and the main event of the week – the latest data on non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate, which will be released on Friday.

Bitcoin, which has been retesting recent support at $108,000, could see a breakout and further declines if labor market data shows stabilization.

In turn, weaker-than-expected employment indicators may swing the pendulum back towards an upward scenario, favoring potential rate cuts and supporting the prices of cryptocurrency assets.

Growth leaders

Bucking the general cryptocurrency market trend, $QNT surged 15% last week following news that UK Finance, the industry association representing the UK banking and financial sector, had launched a pilot project enabling the first real-time transactions of tokenized bank deposits using the Quant network.

Tokenized deposits are a digital representation of traditional sterling commercial deposits, retaining the trust and regulatory protection of traditional deposits while providing benefits such as faster transaction speeds and improved fraud protection. The pilot will run until mid-2026 and is expected to demonstrate benefits for customers, businesses, and the wider UK economy.

A consortium of European banks plans to introduce a euro-denominated stablecoin by 2026.

A consortium of nine leading European banks – ING, UniCredit, DekaBank, CaixaBank, SEB, Danske Bank, KBC, Banca Sella and Raiffeisen Bank International – announced plans last week to launch a new euro stablecoin.

Regulated under EU regulation Mica (Markets in Cryptoassets), the new stablecoin is expected to enter the market in the second half of 2026.

The initiative aims to provide a true European alternative to the US dollar-dominated stablecoin market, supporting Europe's strategic autonomy in the payments space. Individual banks will be able to offer additional services, such as wallet and stablecoin storage, ING said in a press release.

The current market capitalization of eurozone stablecoins is $560 million, or 0,2% of the U.S. dollar stablecoin market capitalization of $290.

Vanguard plans to provide brokerage clients with access to cryptocurrency ETFs

Vanguard, the world's second-largest asset manager, is reportedly preparing to offer its brokerage clients access to cryptocurrency ETFs, though these will likely come from third-party providers rather than being created internally.

If the information is confirmed, it would be a gentle departure from the company's current "no cryptocurrency products" policy and another sign of the industry's maturing.

Vanguard manages approximately $10 trillion in assets. Salim Ramji, previously global head of iShares and index investing at Vanguard, became the company's CEO last year. BlackRock, overseeing the launch of IBIT – a spot Bitcoin ETF.