According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins and encouraged European banks to explore tokenized deposits. This announcement suggests a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach to digital currency. Lescure expressed 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. The minister stated, 'That is what we need and that is what we want.' He also urged banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits.
Lescure noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is 'not satisfactory' compared to dollar-pegged ones. 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.
Le Maire had stated that such currencies 'had no place on European soil' and posed a threat to 'the sovereignty of nations.' Furthermore, in 2023, Le Maire was linked to an EU document outlining plans to limit the widespread use of stablecoins as a replacement for traditional currency. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could accelerate the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.