According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that the European Union needs more stablecoins pegged to the euro and that EU banks should explore tokenized deposits. This statement may mark a shift in the French government's and central bank's policy. Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a group of 12 European banks, including BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plan to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026 to counter the US dominance in digital payments. "This is what we need and what we want," Lescure said, also encouraging banks to further explore the launch of tokenized deposits.
He noted that the relatively small volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones is "not satisfactory." This stance differs from that of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously led a strict regulatory approach against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, deeming them a threat to European sovereignty. Recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could pose a threat to monetary sovereignty, framing it as a political risk.