French Finance Minister Advocates for Increased Adoption of Euro Stablecoins

According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-based stablecoins in Europe and encouraged EU banks to explore tokenized deposits on Friday. This statement may signify a shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach. Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plans to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026 to counter US dominance in digital payments. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure stated, also urging banks to further investigate tokenized deposits. He deemed the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones as "unsatisfactory." Previously, former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire led a strict regulatory stance against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, viewing them as a threat to national sovereignty. In 2023, Le Maire was linked to an EU document outlining the European Commission's plan to limit the widespread use of stablecoins as a replacement for traditional currency. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could accelerate the loss of monetary sovereignty during a discussion with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.