According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more stablecoins pegged to the euro, encouraging banks in the EU to explore tokenized deposits. This statement marks a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's stance on digital currencies.
Lescure expressed support for a group 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 second half of 2026. The goal is to counter the dominance of the US in digital payments. Lescure stated, "This is what we need, and this 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 relatively low compared to those pegged to the US dollar, deeming it "not satisfactory." This stance differs from that of the 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, the Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could lead to the privatization of money and a loss of monetary sovereignty.