According to recent reports from Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has emphasized the need for more euro-denominated stablecoins in Europe, and has encouraged banks across the EU to explore the potential of tokenized deposits. This statement marks a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's stance on digital currencies. Lescure has expressed 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 second 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 current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins is relatively low compared to those pegged to the US dollar, describing this situation as "not satisfactory." This stance differs from that of the former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for strict regulations against privately-issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, viewing them as a threat to national sovereignty. 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.