Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer in the world by market capitalization, is strengthening its position in the European stablecoin market by investing in Malta-based StablR, the company announced on December 17.
This investment reaffirms Tether's commitment to the European market in an effort to support regulated stablecoins as new ones are launched in the region.
StablR operates two stablecoin projects: the StablR Euro (EURR) backed by euros and the StablR USD (USDR) pegged to the US dollar. Both tokens will use Tether's encryption platform, Hadron.
The euro-based stablecoin market is valued at $370 million.
The European stablecoin market has experienced significant volatility in recent months as the European Crypto-Asset Regulation (MiCA) is set to come into full effect on December 30.
According to data from Crypto.com, the euro-based stablecoin market is valued at $367 million at the time of writing, with Stasis Euro (EURS) and Euro Coin (EURC) being the largest stablecoins, with market capitalizations of $130 million and $90 million respectively.
The top five euro-based stablecoins by market capitalization. Source: Crypto.com.
"The European stablecoin market is evolving rapidly and is on track for further robust growth in the broader trend," added Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
"Tether is proud to support initiatives like StablR, which align with our vision of compliance, innovation, and accessibility in the European stablecoin market."
StablR's EURR has a market capitalization of $3 million.
At the time of Tether's investment announcement in StablR, the EURR linked to StablR's euro accounted for about 1% of the total market capitalization of all euro-based stablecoins.
StablR's EURR has a market capitalization of $3.4 million with a total supply of €5.7 million ($5.9 million), according to data from CoinMarketCap.
StablR's USDR stablecoin is not available on cryptocurrency data platforms like CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap at the time of writing.
Using Tether's Hadron, EURR and USDR can be transferred to any Ethereum or Solana wallet address, according to the announcement.
Deribit supported StablR in a €3.3 million round in 2023.
Founded in 2023, StablR raised €3.3 million ($3.4 million) in a funding round that included derivatives exchange Deribit.
Other investors in the funding round include Theta Capital, the blockchain patent technology company Blocktech, crypto-native fund Maven 11, and quantitative trading firm Folkvang.
In July, StablR received authorization to operate as a Cryptocurrency Organization, allowing the company to issue a fully compliant stablecoin under the new EU stablecoin regulations.
StablR's founder and CEO, Gijs op de Weegh, stated that the stablecoin company has "maximized its focus on providing unprecedented compliance, liquidity, and flexibility for institutions and traders," adding:
"With the support of these new investors, that's exactly what we're delivering. This is a new era for stablecoins, and StablR is in the command position."
This news comes just after the global cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase delisted Tether's USDt (USDT) stablecoin, citing MiCA regulations.
