ECB’s Lagarde: Embrace Digital Euro, Ditch Cryptos

The European Central Bank (ECB), like the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and other central banks, is working on different projects to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

While most central banks haven’t decided yet whether issuing a retail CBDC is a desirable outcome, there are more and more signs that individual members of these central banks are convinced this is a good, and necessary idea, to preserve the role of their national currencies in a digital world.

But if there is one central bank that is openly advocating for the adoption of a CDBC, it is the ECB. Fabio Panetta, board member of the ECB, has been explaining the benefits of a digital euro to many different audiences this year perhaps, in part, because the digital euro doesn’t have all the public support that regulators wished it had. A survey conducted by the European Commission showed the overwhelming majority of respondents opposed the adoption of a digital euro.

But the message that a digital euro can achieve financial stability, accessibility and other benefits in the digital age came from the top this week. ECB President Christine Lagarde wrote in a blog post that the digital euro is “an anchor for the whole payment system.”

The overall message is that public money is necessary, even for the success of other types of private money, because people trust that private money can always be converted into central bank money.

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.