According to a recent statement by French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, the European Union needs to see an increase in the number of euro-backed stablecoins, and EU banks should explore the use of tokenized deposits. This statement, as reported by Reuters, marks a potential shift in the stance of the French government and its central bank on the issue. 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 of this initiative is to counter the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector. Lescure emphasized, "This is what we need, and this is what we want. I strongly encourage banks to further explore the launch of tokenized deposits." He also noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is relatively small compared to those pegged to the US dollar, describing this situation as "not satisfactory". This stance differs from that of the former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously adopted a strict regulatory approach to privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, viewing them as a threat to the sovereignty of nations.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned of the potential risks of stablecoins and tokenized private money, citing the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.