According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure expressed his support for the development of more euro-pegged stablecoins in the European Union. This statement marks a significant shift in the government's approach to digital currencies.
Lescure emphasized the need for EU banks to explore tokenized deposits and voiced his backing for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks aiming to launch a euro-stablecoin in the latter half of 2026. The minister's comments suggest a departure from the previously strict regulatory stance adopted by his predecessor, Bruno Le Maire, who had expressed strong opposition to privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies. Lescure's statement highlights the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones as 'not satisfactory'.
The French government's evolving stance on digital currencies comes amid concerns over the potential threat to monetary sovereignty posed by stablecoins and tokenized private money.