According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has expressed his support for the development of more euro-issued stablecoins, emphasizing the need for European banks to explore tokenized deposits. This stance marks a potential shift in the French government's and central bank's policy on digital currencies.
Lescure's comments were made in reference to 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 digital payments.
The minister encouraged banks to further investigate tokenized deposits, stating that the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is 'not satisfactory' compared to dollar-pegged ones. This move contrasts with the previous strict regulatory stance against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who deemed them 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 loss of monetary sovereignty.