Finance ministers of European Union member states agreed Friday on a pathway to set limits on how a lot digital euro a person can maintain, transferring the bloc nearer to launching a central financial institution digital foreign money.
The determination was introduced throughout a Eurogroup press convention following the Economic and Financial Affairs Council assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday. Officials stated that they had reached a consensus on the “ceiling for holding limits after which finally on the issuance course of itself for the digital euro.”
One official famous throughout the press convention that what had been mentioned have been the procedures for establishing holding limits, fairly than the boundaries themselves. The statements observe United Kingdom-based cryptocurrency business advocacy teams calling on the native central financial institution to not proceed with plans to implement very related limits on stablecoin holdings.
A holding restrict for the European Union’s central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC) was additionally mentioned within the European Central Bank’s (ECB) progress report on the digital euro, launched on the finish of 2024. According to a 2024 Politico report, holding limits have grow to be a degree of competition between the ECB and nationwide central banks.
Related: Bank of England mulls canning CBDC plan: Report
EU strikes ahead with digital euro
Despite a world shift towards stablecoins, the EU seems to be doubling down on its digital euro efforts. Earlier this month, the ECB renewed its push to difficulty a digital euro, drawing pushback from some EU members on account of considerations over privateness and dangers of injury to business banks.
ECB board member Piero Cipollone stated on the time that the system “will make sure that all Europeans pays always with a free, universally accepted digital technique of cost, even in case of main disruptions.” He additionally claimed that the financial institution “is not going to know something concerning the payer and the payee” and that the answer may even work offline. The offline implementation, he claimed, “shall be nearly as good as money by way of preserving the privateness of the individuals.”
Related: Australia to check CBDCs, stablecoins in subsequent stage of crypto play
EU’s reply to the rise of stablecoins
ECB policymakers have explored the potential rollout of a digital euro for years, however might be pressured by stablecoin legal guidelines and rules pushed by the Trump administration within the US. In late July, ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf instructed deploying the digital euro as one of many strategic choices for the European Union to handle the fast rise of dollar-based stablecoins.
Similarly, on the finish of May, Fabio Panetta — a former ECB official and Governor of the Bank of Italy — additionally instructed the digital euro as a key software for mitigating the dangers related to growing cryptocurrency adoption. “We could be remiss to suppose that the evolution of crypto-assets could be managed solely by means of guidelines and restrictions,” he stated, suggesting that the digital euro could be key to addressing the dangers.
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