France’s deputy central bank governor on Tuesday called for the “mobilization of all relevant European players, public and private,” to develop tokenized money.
Beau’s comments stand in stark contrast to European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde’s recent speech, in which she said “the case for promoting euro-denominated stablecoins is far weaker than it appears.”
While Lagarde described the $310 billion privately issued stablecoin market, currently dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, as instruments that “risk reinforcing the very vulnerabilities we are trying to overcome,” Beau told CoinDesk that private sector solutions are necessary for the region’s economic development.
However, the differing views reveal a growing concern in Europe about “digital dollarization.” With a stablecoin sector expected to grow to trillions of dollars in the coming years, a shortage of euro-pegged currencies could force European capital into dollar-backed assets, potentially eroding the euro’s global influence and monetary sovereignty.
“To ensure the healthy development of tokenized finance in Europe, its payment and settlement asset pillar should be in euros and build on the solid foundation of our current two-tier monetary system,” Beau said in an interview with CoinDesk.
The central banker outlined a “triple objective” for the region, which calls for the European Union (EU) to align central banks’ monetary services, develop “pan-European solutions in tokenized private money issued by regulated financial institutions” and strengthen the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Beau’s position agrees with Qivali’s
Beau’s stance echoes that of Qivalis, a group of 12 major European banks including ING, BBVA and BNP Paribas, which plans to launch a private digital euro later this year.
Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell recently told CoinDesk that without a liquid onchain euro, “the only alternative is the US dollar,” which he described as a “risk to Europe’s financial and digital sovereignty.”
Lagarde agrees with the need for digital asset alternatives to dollar-pegged stablecoins, warning that USDT and USDC pose “financial stability risks” to Europe and could “transmit stress to the underlying asset markets in periods of turmoil.”
But while Beau favors an immediate mobilization of the private sector to capture market share, Lagarde favors a digital central bank euro, which she suggested in previous statements would be ready by 2029.
Beau noted that the Eurosystem is already in the process of offering native settlement options. “A first delivery will be available at the end of this year, with the opening of our wholesale service for central bank money in tokenized form,” he said, referring to projects like Pontes.
The opposing views between Lagarde and Beau come as US dollar-pegged tokens account for 98% of the stablecoin market.
While Lagarde argues that stablecoins “do not provide the unconditional finality that central money does,” Beau maintains that public and private efforts “should complement and support each other” to ensure the euro remains a viable settlement instrument in an increasingly tokenized global economy.
