According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-issued stablecoins on Friday, urging banks across the European Union to explore tokenized deposits. This statement may signal a shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach to digital currencies.
Lescure expressed 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 move aims to counter the dominance of the US in digital payments.
"That's what we need, and that's what we want," Lescure stated, also encouraging banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits. He noted that the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged ones was "unsatisfactory." This stance differs from that of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for 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.