The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to pursue ambitious plans to establish a Digital Euro, at a time in which global jurisdictions seek to make the most of the rapid digitalization of payments.
On July 14, the ECB announced that as of October, it will move into the two-year ‘investigation phase’ of its Digital Euro project, predominantly focusing on the design of the currency and the ways in which it could be distributed to merchants and citizens.
The ECB believes a Eurozone Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could offset the risks of crypto-assets being led by Big Tech firms who are already in possession of huge amounts of consumer data, as well as mitigate the susceptibility of traditional cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, to market volatilities.
In this context, a January survey from the Bank of
