Euro digital

ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone has penned another article highlighting concerns over the growing popularity of US dollar stablecoins, arguing that launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could help preserve the eurozone’s monetary sovereignty. A potential digital euro “would limit the potential for foreign currency stablecoins to become a common medium of exchange within the euro area,” Cipollone wrote in a statement (...) “It also underscores the urgent need for a digital euro. Failing to act would not only expose us to significant risks but also deprive us of a great opportunity,” the central banker said (...) “They could potentially result not just in further losses of fees and data, but also in euro deposits being moved to the US and in a further strengthening of the role of the dollar in cross-border payments,” he said, adding: “Faced with these challenges, we need a public-private partnership to retain our sovereignty. The digital euro — as a sovereign European means of payment based on EU legislation — would be the cornerstone of this partnership.”