While the American administration is about to establish a regulation on Stablecoins, the Banque de France points out the many risks associated with this asset class.
The stablecoins, these cryptocurrencies presented as stable because they are backed by traditional assets like the dollar, carry many risks for financial stability, the sub-Governor at the Banque de France Agnès Bénassy-Quéré said on Tuesday.
“There are all kinds of risks around these stablecoins,” listed Ms. Bénassy-Quéré on the sidelines of the presentation of the last report on financial stability relating to the first semester: liquidity risk, cyber risk, risk of manipulation, risk of fraud.
Added to the threat of seeing these digital currencies replace conventional currencies, an attack on European monetary sovereignty, according to her.
“It is a market that is extremely dynamic, driven by the American administration,” observed Ms. Bénassy-Quéré.
The US Senate also adopted a text last week a legislative framework for Stablecoins, a vote considered as an important step for the development of this asset. The USDT, the USDCOIN (issued by Circle) and the other Stablecoins are already approaching $ 250 billion in valuation.
The concentration of these two main players “further increases the risks,” said the sub-Governor. In May 2022, a brutal wave of withdrawals destabilized the terrausd and brought its course under a dollar, a movement which caused the collapse of this stablecoin.
The Banque de France has not wanted to be reassuring elsewhere on the exhibition of French companies to the American economy, after a semester upset by the announcements of Donald Trump on customs duties, and at the cost of oil, closely looked at with the current conflict in the Middle East.
