Bank-backed company Qivalis has secured an electronic money institution (EMI) licence from Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), but it cannot yet launch its planned euro-denominated token.
The company announced the authorisation on 14 October, saying it satisfied one of the licensing conditions for the proposed electronic money token (EMT). Qivalis said it is supported by 37 European banks across 15 countries.
It intends to begin issuing the token “within the next months”, but only after meeting the applicable requirements under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and publishing its white paper.
Qivalis has not started issuing electronic money or offering payment services to the public, according to a disclosure on its website updated on 14 October. The company has not set a specific launch date, meaning the timetable remains a stated plan rather than a confirmed schedule.
The token is expected to reach users through eligible banks, exchanges, payment service providers and market-infrastructure participants. Qivalis would be responsible for issuing it, while partner organisations would provide access to end users under a business-to-business-to-customer model known as B2B2X.
Although the announcement identifies the types of organisations that could distribute the token, the size of the bank consortium does not establish which institutions will offer it to customers or when access will become available.
Under Article 48 of MiCA, an issuer generally needs to be authorised either as a credit institution or as an electronic money institution before making a public offer or seeking admission to trading. The issuer must also notify the relevant authorities and publish a white paper, although the regulation contains specific exemptions.
DNB’s guidance for EMT issuance similarly requires an issuer to notify the regulator of its intention to issue a token and submit the related white paper. Qivalis said the project remained subject to the relevant MiCA requirements, making the EMI licence only one stage in the route to market.
The white paper must set out information about the issuer and the token, as well as holders’ rights and obligations, the technology involved and the associated risks. It would therefore give prospective users more detail than the announcement of Qivalis’s licence.
For potential holders, the document would explain the obligations attached to the token and the risks involved in using it.
However, submitting a white paper is not the same as obtaining regulatory approval. Article 51 of MiCA states that authorities must not require prior approval of an EMT white paper before it is published.
Qivalis’s next steps are therefore to notify and publish the required document and complete the applicable MiCA process before beginning the planned issuance through its partners.
