The European Central Bank plans to start a two-year “preparation phase” for the digital euro on November 1, to finalize rules, select partners, and do testing
The European Central Bank took a further step on Wednesday towards launching a digital version of the euro …
ReutersFrancesco Canepa
Context & Ripple Effects
The ECB is moving from its earlier 24-month digital-euro investigation into an execution-focused stage: setting rules, choosing partners, and testing the system. That makes the project more concrete without itself committing the ECB to issuance.
The ECB begins a two-year process to turn its digital-euro work into operational specifications, partner arrangements, and tests.
Potential delivery partners face a formal selection stage, while the ECB must translate prior prototype work into rules and a testable implementation.
Second-order effects
Payments and technology providers will have stronger incentives to align product proposals with the ECB’s emerging requirements, since partner selection can shape who participates in later testing.
The focus on rule-setting makes policy choices—not only interface design—a central constraint on the project, amplifying the concerns already raised around its aims and benefits.
Third-order effects
If the project continues, digital public-money initiatives will increasingly be shaped through procurement and technical standards, concentrating influence in the institutions and suppliers that define interoperability and user experience.
The digital euro’s eventual role will depend as much on public legitimacy and the governing rules as on the underlying technology; the preparation phase is where those trade-offs become durable.
The trend: Central banks are advancing digital-currency projects from exploratory research toward governed, partner-led payment infrastructure design.
We need to prepare our currency for the future. While we haven't yet decided whether to issue a digital euro, we're getting ready. We envisage a digital euro as a digital form of cash that can be used for all digital payments, coexisting with physical cash, leaving no one behind.
Watching the ECB shove its CBDC down the throats of a public that has clearly and repeatedly said that they do NOT want it has been a sight to behold. Everyone should be paying attention to the how the digital euro is slowly being rolled out against the will of the people.
Now, it is official! The @ecb will proceed to the next phase of the digital euro project (preparation phase). The Preparation phase will provide the basis for a potential digital euro, with work to include finalising the rulebook and selecting providers. https://www.ecb.europa.eu…
The EU is considering developing a ‘digital euro’. Today, the @ecb decided to move on to the next phase of the project. 👇 Want to learn more about the digital euro project and its potential benefits? https://europa.eu/!NgcpCp
It's official, the ECB has concluded it's two year “investigation phase” of the digital euro (CBDC) and decided to move to the next phase of the project. This next phase will last again two years and was renamed from a “realisation phase” to a “preparation phase”. Ultimately,... …
Our Governing Council has decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project. In November 2023 we will start laying the foundation for the possible issuance of a digital euro. A decision on issuing a digital euro will come at a later stage. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/..…