French Minister Urges Euro Stablecoins to Counter Dollar

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called on European banks to accelerate the development of euro-denominated stablecoins and tokenized deposits during prerecorded remarks at a cryptocurrency conference in Paris on Friday, highlighting the need to counter the dominance of U.S. dollar-pegged digital assets.

Lescure expressed dissatisfaction with the current scale of euro-pegged stablecoins, stating that their relatively small volume compared to dollar-linked ones was "not satisfactory." He linked this imbalance to Europe's ongoing reliance on U.S.-dominated payment infrastructure and urged lenders to expand these digital instruments within existing regulatory frameworks. The minister specifically endorsed a joint initiative by a consortium of 12 European banks, known as Qivalis, which includes ING, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, and BBVA. The group aims to launch a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)-compliant euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026, positioning it as an alternative for payments, trading, and decentralized finance applications.

"That is what we need and that is what we want," Lescure said of the Qivalis project. He added, "I also strongly encourage banks to further...