France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure has called for the development of more Euro-pegged stablecoins. This comes amid rising tensions between the European Union and the US, as the EU seeks to weaken US dominance over its payment systems.
Euro-Stablecoins: Europe’s Push For Financial Independence
Stablecoins represent a unique type of cryptocurrency with a fixed value pegged to a fiat currency. Although other fiat-backed stablecoins exist, US dollar–denominated stablecoins such as USDT and USDC overwhelmingly dominate the market, reflecting the greenback’s role as the world’s primary reserve currency. Notably, these US-dollar-pegged stablecoins are poised for long-term expansion following President Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, thereby providing the needed guardrails for institutional participation. According to a Reuters report on April 17, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, in pre-recorded comments at a crypto conference in Paris, advocated that European banking institutions develop more euro-pegged stablecoins, noting that their volume compared to US-dollar counterparts was “not satisfactory.” Lescure commended the Qivalis initiative by certain European banks, including ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which are jointly developing a euro-based stablecoin to launch in H2 2026, aiming to combat the US dollar’s dominance. According to Reuters, the advocate for Euro-stablecoins represents part of the European authorities’ efforts to reduce reliance on non-European providers, especially given tense US relations, driven by disputes over security burden-sharing and a global conflict approach, among other issues. Alongside the Euro-stablecoins, the European Central Bank is also developing a digital euro, i.e., a central bank digital currency, to enable the apex bank to play its role effectively in the evolving digital economy. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total Euro-stablecoins market is valued at $675.9 million, with EURC at $ 429.01 million, ranking as the undisputed market leader. In line with Lescure’s point about advocacy, these Euro-backed tokens account for only 0.207% of the global stablecoin market, valued at $325.72 billion.
European Banks Should Accelerate Blockchain Adoption – Lescure
In his pre-recorded speech, released in Paris, Lescure also encourages European banks to explore tokenized deposits. For context, tokenized deposits are digital representations of traditional bank deposits that are issued and recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger. There is considerable interest in these blockchain products with major global banks, including JP Morgan, HSBC, and Citi, all of which offer one variation of tokenized deposits. Lescure is advising European banks to follow this trend and tap into the benefits of blockchain for the banking system.
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