Statements by French Economy Minister Roland Lescure regarding Europe's critical dependence on American payment infrastructure have received substantial digital confirmation. While politicians sound the alarm, markets move step by step, and in the year following the implementation of the MiCA regulatory framework, transaction volumes in euro-backed stablecoins have grown nearly tenfold.
If just recently the idea of EU "financial sovereignty" seemed absurd, today it has taken the form of concrete billions of euros that Europeans and companies have begun moving outside dollar-based infrastructure.
Analytics presented in reports from Dune Analytics (commissioned by Visa) and the payment company Decta paint a picture of rapid transformation.
Market dynamics (2025 - March 2026):
· The overall market for non-dollar stablecoins (all currencies) grew from $700 million in 2023 to $1.2 billion in February 2026. The number of holders of such assets increased 30-fold - from 40,000 to 1.2 million people.
· Approximately 80% of the total capitalization of non-dollar stablecoins and 85% of all transactions are denominated in euros. Europe has become the main driver of cryptocurrency market de-dollarization.
· The monthly volume of transfers in euro stablecoins jumped from $383 million to a staggering $3.83 billion in the year following MiCA's implementation. Some sources cite figures as high as $8 billion, accounting for growth in 2026.
· The market capitalization of euro coins grew from $500 million to approximately $680-912 million. Although this is still 300 times smaller than the dollar-based $300 billion, the growth rate has fundamentally changed: previously there was a 48% decline, now we see a doubling year-over-year.
Market growth has been driven by both major international issuers and traditional banks:
1. EURC (Circle) -The European equivalent of USDC. Showed phenomenal transaction volume growth of 1,139%. Market capitalization exceeded $500 million, and integration with Visa Direct has made it a primary payment instrument.
2. EURS (Stasis) - The oldest euro stablecoin from the Maltese issuer grew its capitalization by 644%, reaching nearly $284 million.
3. EURCV (Societe Generale) - A bank stablecoin from French giant Société Générale showed volume growth of 343%.
The key factor has been the entry into force of MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation. EU legislation has created a "clean space" for digital assets, something banks badly needed. Whereas previously credit institutions were afraid to engage with cryptocurrencies due to risks, now the rules have made it possible to launch backed coins legally.
"The 1,139% growth in euro stablecoin volume is not a speculative bubble but a structural shift. Europeans are tired of paying fees to convert euros into digital dollars and back again," comment analysts at Decta.
Minister Lescure is betting on an institutional approach. The consortium of 12 European banks he supports plans to launch its own euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026. This should solve the problem of market fragmentation, which is currently dominated by private companies (Circle) and individual banks (SG-Forge).
S&P Global forecasts suggest that by 2030, the issuance of euro stablecoins could reach anywhere from €25 billion to a fantastic €1 trillion. This would transform them from a niche instrument into a full-fledged part of the EU's financial system.
Roland Lescure's appeal is no longer just a political declaration - it is an acknowledgment of a fact that the market is confirming with numbers. Europe no longer wants to be a "passenger" in the American payment system. The shift toward euro stablecoins and tokenized deposits is not a concession to cryptocurrency hype but a matter of economic security and competitiveness for the Old World in the digital age.