European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde cautioned against promoting privately issued euro-pegged stablecoins during a speech on Friday. She urged Europe to focus on central bank-backed infrastructure instead.
Lagarde spoke at the Bank of Spain’s LatAm Economic Forum in Madrid. She highlighted risks from large stablecoins such as Tether and USDC that now dominate a $310 billion market, nearly all of it dollar-pegged. Such tokens could transmit stress to asset markets in times of turmoil, she said, citing the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank episode that briefly de-pegged USDC.
