Overview of the Euro Stablecoin Market: Small Scale but Great Potential

As the world's second-largest currency, the euro holds an important position in the traditional financial sector. However, in the blockchain world, the market share of euro stablecoins lags far behind that of US dollar stablecoins, accounting for less than 1% of the latter's scale. Nevertheless, with large institutions such as Circle beginning to enter the euro stablecoin market, this situation is expected to improve. This article will analyze several major euro stablecoins, including their issuance mechanisms, scale, and application scenarios.

Euro Tether (EURT)

As the leader in the stablecoin industry, Tether, although heavily criticized for its compliance and transparency, still maintains its position at the top of the stablecoin rankings with a market cap of $65.9 billion for its USDT. EURT is the euro stablecoin issued by Tether, utilizing a centralized issuance model similar to USDT, supported by actual asset reserves.

As of July 21, the issuance of EURT is 108 million, mainly distributed on the Ethereum network. From on-chain data, EURT is primarily held by a certain exchange, followed by two liquidity pools on Curve, the Polygon cross-chain bridge, and another exchange. It is worth noting that the on-chain usage ratio of EURT is relatively low, with most being held by external accounts.

Euro Coin (EUROC)

A certain trading platform launched EUROC on the Ethereum network on June 30, marking an important step in its entry into the euro stablecoin market. The platform claims that the issuance of EUROC is fully backed by funds in euro-denominated bank accounts.

Due to the short time since the launch of EUROC, the issuance is still relatively small, around 320,000. Currently, EUROC is mainly held by some unknown external accounts, with only a small amount of liquidity available on the chain in a certain DEX.

STASIS EURO (EURS)

EURS is a euro stablecoin launched by STASIS in July 2018, using a centralized issuance mechanism similar to Tether. STASIS claims that EURS is backed 1:1 by collateral in reserve accounts and is subject to regular audits.

The issuance of EURS is 78.61 million, mainly concentrated on the Ethereum mainnet, with a small amount distributed across other public chains. From on-chain data, the total supply of EURS is 124 million, of which nearly 40% is on the Curve platform, and there is also some liquidity on a certain DEX.

agEUR (AGEUR)

agEUR is an innovative decentralized stablecoin. Users can mint agEUR at a 1:1 ratio using supported tokens, and the protocol manages risk through hedging agents and standard liquidity providers. Recently, the project has also introduced lending features, allowing users to collateralize crypto assets to mint agEUR.

The issuance of agEUR is approximately 42.83 million, with good liquidity performance, and the total liquidity on Curve and certain DEXes exceeds 60% of the total.

Iron Bank EURO (ibEUR)

ibEUR is part of the Fixed Forex project, which was launched by renowned developer Andre Cronje. The issuance mechanism of ibEUR is based on a lending model, allowing users to borrow ibEUR by depositing collateral on Iron Bank or other platforms.

Excluding the unused portion, the actual issuance of ibEUR is approximately 10.23 million. Among them, over 80% of the circulation is concentrated in two trading pairs on Curve.

sEUR (SEUR)

sEUR is a synthetic euro asset on a certain synthetic asset platform. Users can mint sUSD by over-collateralizing platform tokens, and then exchange sUSD for various synthetic assets, including sEUR.

According to official data, the issuance of sEUR is approximately 7.8 million. On the Ethereum mainnet, over 60% of sEUR is located in two liquidity pools of Curve.

Summary

Despite the relatively small market size of the euro stablecoin, the prices of various euro stablecoins can remain stable around 1 euro. EURT leads with an issuance of 108 million, while EUROC is just getting started. Decentralized stablecoins are more widely used in on-chain applications, mainly concentrated on the Curve platform, with some also used in other DEXs and lending platforms. In contrast, centralized stablecoins like EURT and EURS are more prevalent in exchanges. With the development of the market and ongoing institutional arrangements, euro stablecoins are expected to achieve greater growth and application in the future.