BNP Paribas builds MiCA-compliant blockchain infrastructure

BNP Paribas is taking one of the most concrete steps yet by a major European bank toward integrating regulated financial products directly onto public blockchain infrastructure.

The project, led by BNP Paribas Asset Management, introduces a tokenised share class of an existing French money market fund. Instead of using a private or permissioned ledger, the bank chose Ethereum – but with built-in robust regulatory control mechanisms.

Regulated access on a public network

While the tokens are issued on the Ethereum network, the model operates through a “permissioned” framework. Only pre-verified and eligible participants can hold or transfer the tokenised shares, ensuring compliance with current regulatory standards.

To achieve this, BNP Paribas implements the ERC-3643 standard – developed specifically for regulated financial assets. The pilot project tests a full cycle – from issuance and transfer administration functions to connectivity with the public network – with participation from the Asset Management, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Securities Services divisions.

This follows previous experiments by the group, including a tokenised fund on a private Luxembourg blockchain in 2025 and a renewable energy financing bond issued directly on Ethereum in 2022.

Qivalis: A Euro stablecoin for institutional payments

In parallel, BNP Paribas is playing a leading role in Qivalis – a Euro stablecoin project structured as a consortium of 12 major European banks. Participants include ING, UniCredit, BBVA, CaixaBank, DZ BANK, and DekaBank.

The stablecoin will be pegged 1:1 to the Euro and backed by segregated reserves, including central bank deposits and short-term government securities. The project is built in accordance with MiCA regulations and is currently applying for an electronic money institution license with the Dutch Central Bank. The commercial launch is planned for the second half of 2026.

Qivalis is not positioned as a speculative crypto asset, but as infrastructure for institutional payments.

Its primary applications include:

• Programmable payments via smart contracts.
• Automated settlement for tokenised securities.
• Real-time liquidity management for multinational companies.

The launch is planned across several networks, starting with Ethereum, with subsequent expansion to Polygon and Base.

The project is led by Jan-Oliver Sell, former head at Coinbase Germany, and Chairman Sir Howard Davies, former Chairman of NatWest.

Strategic shift toward on-chain finance

The combination of a tokenised fund on ETH and a MiCA-compliant stablecoin demonstrates a strategic shift. Instead of competing with blockchain infrastructure, major European banks are increasingly building directly on top of it.

BNP Paribas is testing a hybrid model: A public blockchain layer for settlement and transparency, combined with strictly regulated access and institutional control.

This approach could prove to be a template for future integration between traditional financial markets and on-chain infrastructure in Europe.