The French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, emphasized the need for more stablecoins pegged to the euro and encouraged European banks to explore the use of tokenized deposits, as reported by Reuters. This shift in stance may signal a new direction for the French government and its central bank. 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. The goal is to counter the dominance of the US 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 volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is relatively low compared to dollar-pegged ones, which he finds "not satisfactory." 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, citing concerns over national sovereignty. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned of the potential risks of stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the loss of monetary sovereignty.