The European Central Bank hopes that Donald Trump’s support for cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar (stablecoins) could provide a tailwind for the introduction of the digital euro. Piero Cipollone from the ECB’s Executive Board explained this in an interview with the news agency Reuters.
Anzeige
He also said that the plans for another American means of payment would make the digital euro project more urgent. Cipollone hopes that the EU Council and the European Parliament will finish their work on the legislation this summer so that negotiations with the EU Commission can begin. It would then be possible to finalize rules by November, which could then be voted on.
His biggest concern is that people in Europe will start paying with cryptocurrencies that are linked to the US dollar. This would lead to these people’s deposits being transferred to the United States. At the same time, however, banks fear that the digital euro will lead to customers shifting their cash reserves into the ECB’s system.
The aim is that the planned payment system should not be dependent on US providers such as PayPal or Visa. Countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica and the Bahamas already have a central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to Reuters, a further 44 countries are currently conducting pilot projects.
(tlz)