French Finance Minister Roland Lescure expressed his support for the development of more euro-denominated stablecoins and encouraged European banks to explore tokenized deposits on Friday, as reported by Reuters. This shift in stance may signal a new direction for the French government and its central bank. Lescure voiced his backing for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including prominent institutions such as BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, as they prepare to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the latter half of 2026.
The move aims to challenge the dominance of the US in the digital payments landscape. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure stated, also emphasizing the need for banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits. He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is relatively low compared to those pegged to the US dollar, describing the situation as "not satisfactory".
This stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who had expressed strong opposition to privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, citing concerns over national sovereignty. More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned about the potential risks of stablecoins and tokenized private money, framing them as a threat to monetary sovereignty.