French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins and encouraged European banks to explore tokenized deposit options on Friday, as reported by Reuters. This statement suggests a shift in the French government's and its central bank's stance on the matter. 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 digital payments. Lescure stated, 'That's what we need, and that's what we want.' He also urged banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits. The relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones was deemed 'unsatisfactory' by Lescure. This stance differs from that of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously adopted a strict regulatory approach to 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 and tokenized private money could accelerate the loss of monetary sovereignty, framing it as a political threat.