According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins and encouraged banks in the European Union to explore the potential of tokenized deposits. This shift in stance was evident in Lescure's remarks on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
The French government and its central bank may be reevaluating their position on digital currencies. Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including prominent institutions such as BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plan to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the latter half of 2026.
The goal of this initiative is to counterbalance the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector. "This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure stated, while also urging banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits.
He noted that the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to those pegged to the US dollar is "not satisfactory." Previously, the French government had taken a strict stance against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, with former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire asserting that they had no place in Europe and posed a threat to national sovereignty. In 2023, Le Maire was linked to an EU document outlining the European Commission's plan to limit the widespread use of stablecoins as a replacement for traditional fiat currency. More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned against the potential risks of stablecoins and tokenized private money, citing the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.