According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has emphasized the need for more euro-based stablecoins in Europe, urging banks across the EU to explore the use of tokenized deposits. This statement marks a significant shift in the government's approach to digital currencies. Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks planning to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026, aiming to challenge US dominance in the digital payments sector. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure stated, also encouraging banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits.
He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is insufficient compared to those pegged to the US dollar. 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 Bank of France Governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could pose a threat to monetary sovereignty.