French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins in Europe, urging banks across the EU 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 latter half of 2026, in an effort to counter the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector. Lescure stated, "This is what we need and what we want. I also strongly encourage banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits." He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is unsatisfactory compared to those pegged to the US dollar.
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 potential threat of privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies to national sovereignty. More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned about the potential risks of stablecoins and tokenized private money, citing the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.