Overview
- Lagarde, speaking at Spain’s Banco de España LatAm Economic Forum on Friday, said euro‑pegged stablecoins are not an efficient way to strengthen the euro.
- She warned that private tokens can break their pegs and face runs, citing USDC’s drop during Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, and said deposit shifts into stablecoins could weaken bank lending and blunt rate moves.
- As an alternative, she backed tokenised commercial bank deposits and the Eurosystem’s Pontes and Appia projects, which aim to let blockchain trades settle in central bank money starting in September 2026 and expand through 2028.
- She noted the market has grown past $300 billion yet is concentrated in dollar coins, with about 98% pegged to the U.S. currency and most issued by Tether and Circle.
- Despite her stance, industry plans continue, with the Qivalis bank consortium preparing a MiCA‑regulated euro token for the second half of 2026 under rules that require roughly 30% of reserves to sit in bank deposits.