Banks Embrace Stablecoins: Institutional capture of digital money

Madrid, September 2026.– Stablecoins have ceased to be an exclusive tool of the crypto ecosystem and have become a strategic priority for banks, fintechs, and global payment companies. Santander, BBVA, Trade Republic, and Western Union will participate in MERGE Madrid 2026 to analyze how this new financial infrastructure will transform payments, international transfers, investment, and asset settlement.

The new edition of MERGE Madrid will take place from October 27th to 29th and will put the Spanish capital at the center of the debate on the future of money. The event will bring together four complementary perspectives: collaboration among major international banks, the creation of a European stablecoin within MiCA, the adoption of digital assets from a European investment platform, and the integration of a digital dollar into one of the largest remittance networks in the world.

Four approaches that anticipate the future of digital money

BBVA, Banca Sella, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Cecabank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Kutxabank, Piraeus Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, and Bankinter will explain their role in Qivalis, the alliance that now brings together 37 financial institutions from 15 European countries to promote a euro-denominated stablecoin. The project aims to offer faster and cheaper payments and transfers, available 24 hours a day, and to facilitate the settlement of digital assets within a regulated environment. Its commercial launch is scheduled for the second half of 2026, subject to the corresponding authorization.

Santander will discuss the initiative it is exploring together with Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, MUFG, TD Bank, and UBS to issue a form of digital money backed one-to-one by reserves and available on public blockchains. The project studies currencies linked to G7 currencies and reflects how international banking seeks to build common standards to operate with digital money in a secure and regulated way.

Trade Republic will provide the perspective of one of Europe’s leading investment and savings platforms on the incorporation of digital assets into everyday financial services. Its participation will make it possible to analyze what retail investors demand, how easy and regulated access to cryptoassets can be facilitated, and what role digital platforms will play in the adoption of new financial infrastructures in Europe.

Western Union will present USDPT, its dollar-denominated stablecoin, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank and built on Solana. The company is integrating this asset into its Digital Asset Network to connect digital money with real-world use cases: transfers available 24/7, payments, and conversion to local currency through its international network. The initiative shows how stablecoins can complement cash and remittance infrastructure instead of functioning as an isolated circuit.

“For the first time, banks, fintechs, and major payment companies aren’t coming to debate whether stablecoins will have a role in the financial system, but instead to explain how they are building and integrating them and what specific problems they want to solve with them. MERGE Madrid will be the place where we can compare these models and understand what form digital money will take in Europe and Latin America,” explains Paula Pascual, founder of MERGE.

Why does everyone want to launch a stablecoin now?

The interest coincides with a decisive moment for the industry. MiCA regulation has created a specific framework in Europe for the issuance and marketing of crypto-assets, while the growth of dollar-linked stablecoins has sparked a debate about monetary sovereignty and Europe’s ability to develop its own payment infrastructures.

For financial institutions, these currencies allow them to explore almost instantaneous international transfers, programmable payments, continuously available operations, and settlement of tokenized assets without depending on traditional schedules. For payment and remittance platforms, they offer the possibility to reduce intermediaries and connect digital money directly with merchants, bank accounts, and cash withdrawal points.

The conversation at MERGE Madrid will go beyond technology. Participants will analyze who should issue these currencies, how reserves are protected, what guarantees users need, how they can coexist with bank deposits and the future digital euro, and which model has the most real adoption potential.

Madrid brings together the banking sector building the new digital money

The program will bring together leaders in banking, payments, investment, regulation, blockchain infrastructure, and digital assets. Among the already confirmed profiles are Coty de Monteverde, Global Head of Crypto & Digital Assets at Banco Santander; Francisco Maroto, Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets at BBVA; and representatives from Trade Republic, Western Union, Qivalis, Mastercard, Ripple, and other companies developing next-generation financial infrastructure.

The event on October 27th will be held at the Bolsa de Madrid with an Institutional Summit aimed at banks, investors, regulators, and industry leaders. On the 28th and 29th, the Palacio de Cibeles will host the main conference, with more than 3,000 attendees and 250 international speakers from Europe and Latin America.

In addition to stablecoins and digital payments, the agenda will cover tokenization, custody, regulation, capital markets, Bitcoin, artificial intelligence applied to finance, and new blockchain infrastructures. MERGE thus reinforces its position as a point of connection between traditional banking and the digital asset ecosystem on both sides of the Atlantic.

About MERGE

MERGE is the leading institutional platform for digital assets, blockchain, and Web3 connecting Europe and Latin America. Through its events in Madrid and São Paulo, it brings together banks, regulators, corporations, investors, fintechs, startups, and companies native to the digital ecosystem to foster collaboration and the development of new business models.

More information, agenda, and tickets: HERE

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