French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has emphasized the need for more stablecoins pegged to the euro, urging banks in the European Union to explore the potential of tokenized deposits. According to Reuters, Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks planning to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026.
This move is seen as an effort to counter the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector. Lescure stated, "This is what we need, and this is what we want." He also encouraged banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits, citing the current low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins as "not satisfactory".
This shift in stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach, led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who had expressed concerns about the impact of privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies on European sovereignty. More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, had warned about the potential threats of stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the loss of monetary sovereignty.