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Will Europe Overcome Its Cultural Resistance to Stablecoins?

Will Europe Overcome Its Cultural Resistance to Stablecoins?

by Starling Insights

Starling Insights Editorial Board

Jul 15, 2025

Observations

In a recent Financial Times op-ed, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Chair of Société Générale, argues that Europe is falling behind in the stablecoin race and that it risks marginalization in the emerging digital financial system if it fails to act.

Bini Smaghi, a former member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, contends that the impediment to such innovation is primarily cultural, not regulatory. It reflects "a deep-rooted risk aversion and fear of the unknown that continues to stifle innovation," he writes. Many banks see stablecoins as a threat to more profitable activities, he explains, and fear that first-movers will bear both the risks and the substantial costs alone.

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