The French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins in Europe, urging banks to explore the potential of tokenized deposits, as reported by Reuters. This statement may signal a shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach to cryptocurrency. Lescure expressed 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 goal is to counter the dominance of the US in digital payments.
Lescure stated, 'That's what we need, and that's what we want.' He also encouraged banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits. The minister noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is relatively low compared to those pegged to the US dollar, describing this as 'not satisfactory.' This stance differs from that of the former Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for strict regulations against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, citing concerns over national sovereignty.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned about the potential threats of stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the loss of monetary sovereignty.