European stablecoin issuer AllUnity has launched USDAU, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 30 that the launch expanded AllUnity's lineup of fiat-backed stablecoins regulated under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules to 4.

USDAU is designed to maintain a 1-to-1 value with the dollar based on segregated reserve assets. The initially supported networks are Ethereum, Solana, Base, Tempo, Arx and Polygon. AllUnity has already issued the euro-pegged EURAU, the Swiss franc-pegged CHFAU and the Swedish krona-pegged SEKAU.

The launch comes as dollar-pegged stablecoins have effectively dominated the global market. CoinGecko data puts the global stablecoin market capitalisation at $291 billion, with dollar-pegged tokens accounting for more than 99 percent. In Europe, concerns have persisted that this structure could further increase dependence on the dollar in tokenised finance.

The European Central Bank warned in June that wider use of dollar stablecoins in Europe's tokenised finance could deepen reliance on the dollar and weaken the role of the euro. Against this backdrop, the USDAU launch is tied to discussions on how to supply dollar liquidity within Europe's regulatory framework.

Alexander Hoeftner (알렉산더 횝트너), AllUnity's chief executive officer, drew a line by saying the dollar itself was not at the centre of the controversy. He said Europe's concern was that dollar liquidity was flowing in through overseas issuers that lack European supervisors, cannot be compelled to honour redemption rights and provide no visibility into reserve assets.

AllUnity sees USDAU as able to address those problems. Hoeftner said USDAU brings dollar liquidity into the scope of European regulation while allowing European companies to access dollars needed for global trade and cross-border payments. That means maintaining demand for dollar-based payments while applying European regulatory standards to issuance, redemption and reserve management.

The scale of existing stablecoins still shows a wide gap. CoinGecko puts EURAU's market capitalisation at about $400,000 and CHFAU's at about $45 million. With USDAU targeting a market structure concentrated around demand for dollars, the key question is how quickly its circulation will build.

European regulators and central banks are also continuing to refine detailed MiCA standards related to stablecoins. In this situation, AllUnity's USDAU is expected to be a case that tests corporate demand in Europe and regulatory discussions at the same time.

USDAU is live! AllUnity launches USDAU, a fully reserved MiCAR-Compliant US dollar stablecoin, and introduces instant #FX capabilities. As an E-Money Token, #USDAU is: Pegged 1:1 to the US dollar (USD) Fully backed by segregated reserves Issued by a regulated… pic.twitter.com/GV33l1wPxZ