France’s central banker Beau clashes with Lagarde over private digital euro plans
Key takeaways
- France Central Bank Deputy Governor Denis Beau.
- Beau’s stance aligns with 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 U.S. dollar," which he described as a "risk to Europe’s financial and digital sovereignty."
France Central Bank Deputy Governor Denis Beau. (Banque de France/Press)What to know: Denis Beau, deputy governor of France’s central bank, is urging a broad public-private push to develop euro-based tokenized money to counter the dominance of dollar-pegged stablecoins.His stance contrasts with that of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who is wary of privately issued stablecoins and favors a central bank digital euro targeted for around 2029.Beau’s position aligns with Qivalis, a consortium of major European banks planning a private digital euro, amid fears that the lack of liquid on-chain euro options will accelerate “digital dollarization” and weaken Europe’s monetary sovereignty.France’s central bank deputy governor called Tuesday for the "mobilization of all relevant European players, public and private,” to develop tokenized money.
Beau’s comments are in stark contrast with European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde’s recent speech in which she said that “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 amplifying the very vulnerabilities we are trying to overcome,” Beau told CoinDesk that private sector solutions are necessary for the region’s economic development.