According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure expressed the need for more euro-issued stablecoins on Friday, emphasizing that European Union banks should delve into tokenized deposits. This marks a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's stance. Lescure voiced support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks aiming to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026, in an effort to counterbalance U.S. dominance in the digital payments landscape.
"This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure stated, also encouraging banks to explore tokenized deposits further. He noted the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones as "unsatisfactory". This stance differs from the previous strict regulatory approach led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who deemed privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies a threat to national sovereignty.
More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned against the potential threat of stablecoins and tokenized private money to monetary sovereignty during a discussion with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.