According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has emphasized the need for a greater number of euro-issued stablecoins, encouraging European banks to explore the potential of tokenized deposits. This shift in perspective may signal a new direction in the French government's and central bank's approach to digital currencies. Lescure expressed his support for a consortium 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 latter half of 2026. The goal of this initiative is to challenge the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector.
Lescure stated, "This is what we need, and this is 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 those pegged to the US dollar was deemed "unsatisfactory" by Lescure. This stance marks a departure from the previous strict regulatory approach, led by former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who had expressed strong opposition to privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned of the potential risks associated with stablecoins and tokenized private money, citing the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.