French bank Société Générale launches dollar-denominated stablecoin on Ethereum network

• Dollar stablecoin on Ethereum issued by European bank
• Société Générale debuts in the tokenized stablecoin market
• SG Forge advances institutional and regulated stablecoins

Société Générale, one of Europe's largest financial institutions, is is set to become the first major global bank to issue a dollar-backed stablecoin on a public blockchain. The initiative will be led by its blockchain and cryptocurrency subsidiary, SG Forge, with an initial launch planned on the Ethereum network.

Sources close to the project revealed that SG Forge’s plan also includes expanding the stablecoin to other blockchains, such as Solana. The digital currency will initially target institutional investors seeking liquidity in tokenized dollars with regulatory backing within the European Union.

JPMorgan already has its own stablecoin, JPM Coin, but it operates on a private network and is restricted to internal use. Thus, the French bank's initiative represents an unprecedented move by bringing a dollar-denominated banking stablecoin to a public, permissionless network.

SG Forge has previously entered this space with the launch of EUR CoinVertible (EURCV), a euro-denominated stablecoin designed for institutional use in 2023. While the initiative has gained some traction, the euro-denominated stablecoin space is still limited, with just €300 million in circulation, of which €40 million is represented by EURCV.

Unlike the tokenized euro, the dollar-backed stablecoin market exceeds $250 billion in market value, dominated by issuers such as Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT). With the new currency, the French bank is now competing for space in a sector dominated by non-banking companies.

SG Forge operates under an e-money license under European Union rules, similar to Circle’s authorization, which allows it to issue the new stablecoin legally and in line with MiCA regulations. This regulatory differential strengthens its offering to the European institutional audience.

The launch comes amid growing adoption of stablecoins as financial infrastructure, with companies like Stripe, Visa and Mastercard integrating solutions with these digital currencies into their traditional payment systems.