According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that Europe requires more stablecoins pegged to the euro, and EU banks should investigate tokenized deposits. This statement may signify a shift in the French government's and its central bank's position.
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 to counter US dominance in digital payments. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure said, also encouraging banks to explore tokenized deposits further. He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is "not satisfactory" compared to those pegged to the US dollar.
This stance differs from that of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for strict regulations against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, deeming them a threat to national sovereignty. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins could pose a threat to monetary sovereignty, emphasizing the risk of privatization of money.