The battle for the digital euro is heating up as central bankers clash over how to take on Tether

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.

The different views, however, reveal a growing concern in Europe over the “digital dollarization.” With a stablecoin sector projected to rise to the trillions of dollars in the coming years, a lack of euro-pegged currencies could force European capital into dollar-backed assets, potentially eroding the euro’s global influence and monetary sovereignty.

“To ensure a sound development of tokenized finance in Europe, its payment and settlement asset pillar should be in euro 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 requires the European Union (EU) to adapt central bank money 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 stance aligns with Qivalis

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.”

Lagarde agrees with the need for digital asset alternatives to dollar-pegged stablecoins, warning that USDT and USDC pose “financial stability risks” for Europe and could “transmit stress to the underlying asset markets during periods of turmoil.”

However, while Beau advocates for immediate private-sector mobilization to capture market share, Lagarde favors a central bank digital euro, which in previous statements she suggested would be ready by 2029.

Beau noted that the Eurosystem is already moving to provide native settlement options. “A first deliverable will become available by the end of this year, with the opening of our wholesale central bank money service in tokenized form,” he said, referencing projects such as Pontes.

The opposing views between Lagarde and Beau come as U.S. dollar-pegged tokens account for 98% of the stablecoin market.

While Lagarde argues that stablecoins, “do not confer 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.