51 Insights – What Matters in Digital Assets Europe’s €11 trillion stablecoin opportunity, with Sveinn Valfells, Co-Founder of Monerium
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️
“Fiat needs to move 24/7. And that’s what blockchains are built for.”
That’s Sveinn Valfells, co-founder of Monerium, one of Europe’s oldest and largest stablecoin players – and one of the few people in Europe who’s not just talking about on-chain finance but actually building the regulatory-compliant rails to make it happen.
In this episode, we talk about how Sveinn helped write the stablecoin playbook that’s now shaping global policy. His company, Monerium, issued the first regulated stablecoin in Europe, long before Circle had a legal framework and before the U.S. even passed enabling legislation.
But this isn’t just another stablecoin episode.
It’s a front-row seat to the regulatory cold war unfolding between the U.S. and Europe and why Europe lost the first phase of this war.
About Sveinn: Sveinn Valfells is an Icelandic entrepreneur, scientist, and investor. With a background in tech and physics, Sveinn was an early adopter of Bitcoin, helping to organise the first Bitcoin conferences in London. He led Monerium in 2015 to become the first company licensed in the European Economic Area to issue e-money on-chain, including EURe, GBPe, and USDe stablecoins, enabling instant transfers between traditional bank accounts and blockchain wallets.
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🎧 Jump to the best parts
* (00:37) → The future of Fiat is on-chain: Sveinn explains his core thesis: blockchains offer a superior infrastructure for transacting real-world assets, and fiat currency is the most significant of these.
* (07:23) → The e-money blueprint: How Monerium issued the first regulated stablecoin in Europe using the pre-MiCA e-money framework — years before Circle or Paxos had legal clarity.
* (17:11) → MiCA vs. the Genius Act: Sveinn compares the EU’s MiCA regime with the U.S. Payment Stablecoin Act — and explains why America is now copying Europe’s early blueprint.¨
* (23:47) → The “too big to fail” risk of dollar dominance: Why relying on USD for 99% of stablecoin volume is dangerous — and how multi-currency rails could mitigate systemic risk.
* (29:00) → Why Europe fell behind and how they’ll catch up: Despite clear regulation, Europe’s fragmented startup ecosystem slowed real adoption. Sveinn outlines what needs to change for Europe to lead.
Important Links
* Website: https://sveinn.valfells.com/
* X: https://x.com/sveinn_valfells
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sveinn-valfells
* Medium: https://medium.com/@valfells
* Monerium: https://monerium.com/board/
🎙️ In our conversation, we discussed:
* Why the future of fiat currency is on the blockchain
* How Monarium pioneered regulated stablecoins in Europe
* The critical differences and similarities between EU and US stablecoin regulation
* The systemic risks of global reliance on the US dollar and its infrastructure
* Why the Euro has the potential to become a major on-chain currency
* The future of financial services in a tokenised world
* Why a multi-chain, multi-currency stablecoin ecosystem is inevitable
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My biggest takeaways from this conversation: