France Finance Minister Backs Euro-Pegged Stablecoins to Compete with US Dollar Dominance

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called on European banks to accelerate euro-pegged stablecoin development at a Paris crypto conference, warning that Europe's digital payments infrastructure remains too reliant on U.S.-dominated systems. The push comes as USD-pegged stablecoins exceed $300 billion in supply, led by Tether's USDT at $186 billion, while euro stablecoins total only $912 million with Circle's EURC leading at $426.9 million. ING, UniCredit and BNP Paribas formed a consortium to launch a euro stablecoin in late 2026 under the MiCA regulatory framework. Despite government encouragement, RBC Capital Markets research shows two-thirds of European banks report limited stablecoin demand, though a BVNK study of 4,658 adults found 54% held stablecoins in the past year and 56% plan to acquire more.

French Government Push for Euro-Pegged Stablecoins

• ▪ING, UniCredit and BNP Paribas formed a company to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026
• ▪French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called on European banks to accelerate development of euro-pegged stablecoins and tokenized deposits

Market Dominance of USD-Pegged Stablecoins

• ▪Total supply for USD-pegged stablecoins has exceeded $300 billion according to The Block's data dashboard
• ▪Circle's USDC ranks second among USD-pegged stablecoins at approximately $78.8 billion market cap
• ▪Tether's USDT has a market cap of nearly $186 billion

Current State of Euro Stablecoin Market

• ▪Circle's EURC leads the euro stablecoin segment with a market cap of $426.9 million
• ▪CoinVertible (EURCV) ranks third among euro stablecoins with a market cap of $126.7 million
• ▪STASIS' EURS has a market cap of $150.3 million
• ▪CoinVertible (EURCV) was launched in 2023 by Societe Generale
• ▪Total euro stablecoin market capitalization is $912 million according to CoinGecko data

Growing Adoption and Competitive Pricing of Stablecoins

• ▪56% of respondents in the BVNK study planned to acquire more stablecoins
• ▪54% of respondents in the BVNK study held stablecoins in the prior 12 months
• ▪Fourteen of 21 tracked blockchain-based currencies traded within 100 basis points of interbank FX rates by March according to Borderless research
• ▪A February study from BVNK conducted with Coinbase and Artemis was based on a YouGov survey of 4,658 adults across 15 countries
• ▪Borderless research was based on more than 1.1 million pricing observations across 51 currencies

Perspective of Stablecoin users surveyed in BVNK study

• ▪56% of respondents in the BVNK study planned to acquire more stablecoins
• ▪54% of respondents in the BVNK study held stablecoins in the prior 12 months