After a careful study phase, the operational phase for the introduction of the digital euro is underway. If everything goes as planned, within a few years we will have bank accounts directly at the ECB and we will finally be able to pay with digital currency via smartphones, replacing notes and coins. Another novelty concerns the “wholesale” digital euro, which will be used for large international payments. The impetus at this juncture was governments that, for geopolitical reasons, need a large global reserve currency.
Why did the ECB activate the operational phase of the digital euro? The reason would also be to counter China or Meta/Facebook’s digital currency projects. The ECB is a project with an Italian flavor, as it was conceived by the member of the executive committee Fabio Panetta, who has now passed the baton to his compatriot Piero Cipollone. However, not everyone will be pleased with the news; the business of payment card companies and commercial banks will lose out.
“We must prepare our currency for the future”, commented ECB President Christine Lagarde, who explained that “we conceived a digital euro as a digital form of money that can be used free of charge for any digital payment and that meets the highest standards and high levels of confidentiality”. A digital euro that, in Lagarde’s words, would “work alongside cash” and “will always be available, so that no one is left behind”. The preparation phase will pave the way for a possible future decision on the issuance of a digital euro, which will also have to go through a European Union legislative process.
Source: IL Tempo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
