European Central Bank and national central banks of the euro area are looking into the possible issuance of a digital euro. Digital euro would be a digital form of cash, issued by the central bank and available to everyone in the euro area and it would be available for any electronic payments in shops, online or from person to person. Idea on central bank money in digital form came as a response to people’s growing preference to pay digitally, in a fast and secure way in Europe. Digital euro would strengthen the strategic autonomy and monetary sovereignty of the euro area by boosting the efficiency of the European payments ecosystem as a whole. A digital euro would be an electronic means of payment available free of charge to everyone. Like cash today, it could be used anywhere in the euro area, and it would be secure and private. In our increasingly digitalised society, a digital euro would be the next step forward for our single currency. More on digital euro at the ECB website.
Core functions
- Monetary policy
- Financial assets management
- Financial stability
- Supervision
- Resolution
- Payment system
- International relations