The post ECB Hands EU a Pro-Privacy CBDC Design: Will It Survive? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The European Central Bank plans to allow blockchain-based settlement in central bank money next year and is preparing to issue a digital euro, but its privacy safeguards will ultimately depend on approval from EU lawmakers. ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone said in a Friday statement that the institution will “make it possible to settle transactions based on [DLT] in central bank money” next year. He also said the ECB is “getting ready” to issue the digital euro and to link its system internationally for cross-border payments. The digital euro underlying infrastructure would also be available to other institutions to settle transactions with other central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The executive said that holding limits and a lack of interest are expected to “preserve banks’ role in “credit intermediation and monetary transmission.” Assuming legislative approval in 2026, initial transactions with the digital euro could follow in 2027, with readiness to issue the CBDC in 2029. In Thursday statements, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the ECB’s work is over and that the digital euro design, including its privacy features, lies with EU lawmakers. Cipollone shared the ECB vision: “The digital euro would be available both online and offline, supporting resilience and privacy.“ According to Cipollone, a CBDC is needed due to the EU’s fragmented retail payment ecosystem, slow cross-border payments. He also explained that without a CBDC, tokenization and DLT would lead to fragmentation and increased credit risk. A tokenized digital euro will also be available for the digital asset market, presumably to prevent this fragmentation. Cipollone acknowledged that stablecoins offer a solution to slow, costly cross-border payments, but also introduce risks to currencies and financial systems. Furthermore, “if dollar-based stablecoins were to expand, […] they could erode the international role of the euro.” Related: Cypherpunk values are dying, but they’re…

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Filed under: News - @ December 20, 2025 3:17 am