France’s finance minister, Roland Lescure, has voiced support for a group of European banks planning a euro-pegged stablecoin, endorsing the initiative as a way to counter the dominance of dollar-linked tokens. The proposal, announced in September 2025 under the name Qivalis and led by several EU banks including ING and UniCredit, aims to launch a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026.
Speaking in a pre-recorded message reported by Reuters, Lescure said a euro stablecoin built to meet the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules is “what we need,” and encouraged banks to consider tokenized deposits as part of their digital finance offerings. He also described the current low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared with dollar alternatives as “not satisfactory.”
U.S.-pegged stablecoins, led by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, currently dominate global trading and reserves; CoinMarketCap listed USDT’s market capitalization at roughly $186 billion as of last Friday. The Qivalis collaboration is intended to provide a euro-based alternative that operates under EU supervision and legal standards.
Central bankers in Europe have increasingly discussed how tokenization and stablecoins could reshape financial infrastructure. Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau told the World Economic Forum in January that tokenization and stablecoins would likely be central to financial infrastructure by 2026 and highlighted potential efficiencies from blockchain technology.
At the same time, policymakers and central bankers have cautioned against interest-bearing stablecoins. They argue that allowing yields on stablecoin holdings could create financial stability risks, a point that remains contentious during regulatory debates across jurisdictions.
That debate is also unfolding in the United States. The CLARITY Act, a crypto market-structure bill that passed the House in July, remains stalled in the Senate amid disagreements over how to regulate stablecoin yields, tokenized equities, ethics rules, and other issues. Lawmakers have yet to agree on a compromise to advance the legislation.
The push for a MiCA-aligned euro stablecoin reflects wider European efforts to strengthen digital finance infrastructure while keeping oversight within EU regulatory frameworks. Backers say a regulated euro stablecoin could support payments, cross-border transactions, and a European digital ecosystem without ceding dominance to non-EU-issued tokens.
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