According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that the European Union needs more stablecoins pegged to the euro, and that EU banks should explore the potential of tokenized deposits. This statement may signal a shift in the French government's policy.
Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks planning to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026, aiming to reduce U.S. dominance in the digital payments sector. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure said, also encouraging banks to delve deeper into the launch of tokenized deposits. He noted that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is unsatisfactory compared to those pegged to the 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, viewing them as a threat to national sovereignty. More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins could lead to the privatization of money and a loss of monetary sovereignty.