According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that the European continent needs more stablecoins pegged to the euro, and that banks in EU countries should investigate the potential of tokenized deposits. This announcement may signal a shift in the French government's and its central bank's stance on digital currencies. 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. The goal is to counter the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector.
Lescure noted, 'This is what we need, and this is what we want.' He also urged banks to explore the launch of tokenized deposits further. The minister described the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins as 'not satisfactory' compared to those pegged to the US dollar. In the past, the French government has taken a strict stance against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.
Former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had stated that these currencies 'had no place on European soil' and posed a threat to 'the sovereignty of nations.' More recently, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could accelerate the loss of monetary sovereignty, which he framed as a political threat.