According to recent remarks by French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, the European Union needs to see a greater number of stablecoins pegged to the euro, and EU banks should investigate the potential of tokenized deposits. This statement, reported by Reuters, suggests a possible shift in the stance of the French government and its central bank regarding digital currencies. Lescure has 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 emphasized, "This is what we need, and this is what we want." He also encouraged banks to explore the launch of tokenized deposits further. The relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to those pegged to the US dollar was described as "not satisfactory" by Lescure.
This stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach, led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who had stated that privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies had no place in Europe and posed a threat to national sovereignty. More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned about the potential threats of stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the loss of monetary sovereignty.