French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-backed stablecoins in the European market, urging banks to explore tokenized deposits, as reported by Reuters. This statement suggests a potential 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 prominent institutions such as BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plans to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the latter 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 unsatisfactory compared to those pegged to the US dollar. This stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who had expressed concerns about the threat of privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies to national sovereignty.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned about the potential threat of stablecoins and tokenized private money to monetary sovereignty during a discussion with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.