Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
EURC: Circle’s Euro Stablecoin Built to the EU’s MiCA Rules
A euro coin from the issuer of USDC, pegged 1:1 to the euro
EURC is a euro stablecoin issued by Circle, the US company behind the dollar stablecoin USDC. Each EURC is designed to be worth one euro, is backed by euro reserves and follows the EU’s MiCA crypto rules.
1. Circle’s euro coin
EURC launched on Ethereum in June 2022 under the name Euro Coin and the ticker EUROC, which later became EURC. Circle, founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and others, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025. EURC works like USDC, but with euros instead of dollars.
When the stablecoin rules of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) took effect in July 2024, Circle began issuing EURC and USDC under MiCA through Circle Mint France, a subsidiary licensed by the French regulator as an electronic money institution. That made EURC a euro stablecoin meeting EU requirements.
2. Reserves, minting and redemption
EURC is backed 1:1 by euro cash and cash equivalents, and MiCA requires a large share of reserves to be held as deposits at European banks. Circle publishes its reserves regularly, with attestations from an outside accounting firm. MiCA also requires that holders can redeem at face value at any time.
Business customers can send euros to Circle Mint, Circle’s institutional service, to receive EURC, or redeem EURC for euros, while individuals usually buy and sell on exchanges and in wallets. On a blockchain, transfers run around the clock regardless of bank hours, which speeds up euro payments and cross-border transfers.
3. Uses and chains
After Ethereum, EURC has been issued on several networks, including Avalanche, Solana, Stellar and Base. On decentralised exchanges it is used for a kind of foreign-exchange trade against dollar stablecoins, and it also serves in DeFi lending and in business payments.
Most stablecoins are pegged to the dollar, so euro stablecoins remain a small segment, but since MiCA more European banks and fintechs have launched euro coins. On the Crypto Nation map, EURC stands in Ethereum City (the capital), because it was first issued on Ethereum.
4. Things to know: one company, banks and rules
EURC is a centralised token issued and managed by one company, and Circle can freeze tokens at specific addresses, for example at the request of law enforcement. Because reserves sit in banks, bank risk matters too: when Silicon Valley Bank failed in March 2023, part of USDC’s reserves was stuck there and USDC briefly fell below one dollar.
Euro-area authorities, including the European Central Bank, are wary of how private stablecoins could affect monetary sovereignty and financial stability, and they are preparing a central-bank digital euro. Rule changes could alter issuance terms or where the coin is available. Euro stablecoin markets are also thinner than dollar ones, so large conversions can get worse prices.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.