According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that the European Union needs more stablecoins pegged to the euro and that EU banks should explore tokenized deposits. This announcement marks a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach to digital currencies.
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. The move aims to counter the dominance of the US in digital payments. Lescure emphasized, 'That's what we need, and that's what we want.' He also encouraged banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits. The relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to those pegged to the US dollar was deemed 'unsatisfactory' by Lescure.
This stance differs from that of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for strict regulations against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, citing threats to national sovereignty. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could accelerate the privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.