According to Reuters, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure stated on Friday that the European continent requires more stablecoins pegged to the euro, and EU banks should investigate tokenized deposits. This announcement suggests a potential shift in the French government's and its central bank's approach. Lescure voiced his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plan to introduce a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026 to counter the dominance of the US in digital payments.
"This is what we need, and this is what we want," Lescure said, also encouraging banks to explore tokenized deposits further. He expressed dissatisfaction with the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to those pegged to the US dollar. In contrast to his predecessor, Bruno Le Maire, who previously adopted a strict stance against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, Lescure's comments signal a more open approach. Le Maire had stated that such cryptocurrencies had no place in Europe and posed a threat to national sovereignty.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned that stablecoins and tokenized private money could lead to the privatization of money and a loss of monetary sovereignty.