The French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, emphasized the need for more stablecoins pegged to the euro and encouraged banks in the EU to explore tokenized deposits, as reported by Reuters. This statement may signal a shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach to digital currencies. 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.
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 low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones is "not satisfactory." This stance differs from the previous strict regulatory approach against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who considered them a threat to national sovereignty.
More recently, the Bank of France Governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could accelerate the loss of monetary sovereignty.