French Minister of Finance Roland Lescure European banks should develop more euro-based stablecoins and tokenized deposits to reduce the continent’s dependence on non-European payment providers, Reuters said on Friday (April 17). I mentioned Friday.
In pre-recorded comments delivered at a cryptocurrency conference in Paris, Lescure said the small size of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to dollar-pegged currencies is “not satisfactory” and that a company formed by a group of European banks to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin later this year is “what we need and this is what we want,” according to the report.
Lescure also said that he strongly encourages banks to consider launching token deposits, and that he supports the European Central Bank’s plan to develop a digital euro, according to the report.
Ten of the largest European banks announced in December 2025 that they had established a company called… Kevalis To launch a A stable currency linked to the euro The company aims to launch the stablecoin for the first time in the second half of 2026.
CEO of Covalis Jean Oliver Seale “The local euro stablecoin is not just about convenience, it is about monetary independence in the digital age,” he said at the time in a press release.
Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank Piero Cipolloni He said in January that Europe must become more self-sufficient in payments as transactions delve deeper into digital channels. He added that the European Central Bank has plans Digital euroThese measures, along with bulk payment initiatives, would give the eurozone the tools it needs to “maintain internal order.”
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It was reported in February that the European Parliament gave its first major endorsement on Digital euro This was an important step, because the European Central Bank needs approval from the legislature to issue a digital euro and achieve its goal of debuting in 2029.
The European Central Bank is working on a digital euro to preserve the role of central bank money as the digital economy grows, and to reduce reliance on non-European payment providers, but the digital euro project has seen opposition from banking groups in places like Germany. Progress has slowed, with draft legislation pending for two years, much longer than the European Central Bank had expected.
