ClearBank Europe plans to start offering euro- and US-dollar-denominated stablecoins after saying it is the first Dutch credit institution approved to provide crypto services under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.
The bank, which has more than 270 institutional clients, 1.7 million individual clients and more than $13 billion in assets under management, received confirmation from the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) after notifying the regulator of its plans, allowing it to operate as a crypto asset provider (CASP).
This approval allows ClearBank to begin rolling out digital asset services without applying for a new license. Customers will be able to convert between fiat currencies and stablecoins within a regulated banking environment. The setup connects traditional clearing systems with blockchain networks, which can reduce settlement times and improve cross-border transfers.
ClearBank will connect to Circle Internet’s ( CRCL ) Mint platform to give its institutional clients access to EURC and USDC, which track the euro and US dollar respectively.
“Becoming a crypto-active service provider under MiCAR enables us to bring digital asset capabilities into a regulated clearing environment for the first time, putting us at the forefront of this new era of digital clearing,” said Tristan Kirchner, CEO of ClearBank Europe.
The rollout marks the bank’s first step into digital clearing in Europe, the bank said. ClearBank also said the move is part of a broader strategy to connect banking infrastructure with digital asset markets, including separate efforts in the UK through a partnership with Coinbase ( COIN ).
In January, ClearBank selected digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus to support its push into stablecoin-related services as the clearing bank prepared to expand its payments and digital asset offering to customers across the UK and Europe. This move followed its earlier announcement that it would join the Circle Payment Network, which seeks to enable near-instant global value transfers using blockchain-based rails.
