According to the Bloomberg report, the European Central Bank will start experimenting with a digital version of the euro while holding a public consultation, which is a major step toward introducing the technology. “Our role is to secure trust in money,” President Christine Lagarde said as the ECB published a study into the benefits and drawbacks of digital currency. “This means making sure the euro is fit for the digital age. We should be prepared to issue a digital euro, should the need arise,” she said.
The ECB said it would decide on a digital euro toward mid-2021.
According to the ECB, the consultation will start Oct. 12, and the experiment will be held in parallel. The ECB said it would decide toward mid-2021 whether to launch a digital euro project, which would start with an “investigation phase.” Cryptocurrencies, while regularly criticized by central bankers as little more than speculative assets, have nevertheless spurred a close look at how payment technologies are developing. A CBDC would allow euro-area residents to place deposits with the ECB directly. That’s typically only an option for commercial lenders, governments, and other central banks.
Central banks across countries continue to explore CBDC.
Central banks across countries have expressed interest in CBDCs, and many of them are working actively on the same. The People’s Bank of China is all set to become the first major nation to launch its national digital currency. The central bank has been working on its national digital currency, dubbed DCEP, for the last five to six years and is now very close to issuing it to the general public. As reported earlier, the Bank for International Standards revealed that CBDC was more searched than bitcoin and Libra this year.
