According to recent statements from French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, the European Union is in need of a greater number of euro-issued stablecoins, and EU banks should investigate the potential of tokenized deposits. This shift in stance was reported by Reuters on Friday. The French government and its central bank may be altering their approach.
Lescure has expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including notable 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 counter 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 emphasized the importance of banks exploring 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. Previously, former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had taken a strict stance against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, viewing them as a threat to national sovereignty. In 2023, Le Maire was involved in an EU document that outlined plans to restrict the widespread use of stablecoins as a replacement for traditional 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 monetary sovereignty loss during a discussion with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.