According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-based stablecoins and encouraged banks in the EU to explore tokenized deposit options on Friday. This shift in stance is significant within the French government and its central bank. 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 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 the launch of tokenized deposits.
He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is "not satisfactory" compared to those pegged to the US dollar. This stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who opposed 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 pose a threat to monetary sovereignty during a discussion with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.