The French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins in Europe and encouraged banks to explore tokenized deposits, as reported by Reuters. This shift in perspective may signal a change in the French government's and its central bank's approach to digital currencies. Lescure expressed his 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 is what we need and that is what we want. I also strongly encourage banks to further explore 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 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 about the potential threats of stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the loss of monetary sovereignty.