The ECB will accept certain DLT-issued securities as eligible collateral in Eurosystem credit operations from March 30, and Ripple has been granted a full EU license — a sign of growing regulatory acceptance for tokenized finance.
The ECB is targeting a 2029 launch for a pan-European digital euro as lawmakers move forward; official Cipollone has been addressing banking concerns and privacy safeguards. The push aims to balance innovation in payments with financial stability and data protection.
ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the digital euro will provide essential infrastructure for retail payments and help the euro area achieve payment-processing self-sufficiency. He made the remarks Thursday, framing the project as a tool for sovereignty and resilience.
European Central Bank executive Piero Cipollone said a European-run payments system is a strategic imperative as geopolitical tensions make the global environment increasingly “weaponised.” The comment reinforces the push for a digital euro to protect payments autonomy.
ECB chief economist Philip Lane warned political pressure on the Fed could raise U.S. term premiums and unsettle the dollar’s global role; investors are increasingly eyeing Bitcoin as a non-sovereign alternative.
The Council of the European Union has approved moving forward with the ECB’s digital euro project, endorsing both an online model and a privacy-focused offline variant. The decision clears a political hurdle toward pilots and technical development.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said the technical and preparatory work for a digital euro is complete and urged lawmakers to move quickly amid rising concern over global stablecoins. The appeal comes after the ECB's recent rate pause and frames the digital euro as a strategic priority.
On December 9, 2025 the ECB published a roadmap targeting pilot trials of a digital euro in 2027 and a first issuance by 2029 to complement cash and strengthen EU technological autonomy.
The European Central Bank says rapid stablecoin growth could threaten euro-area financial stability despite currently limited exposure. Regulators are urged to step up monitoring and consider policy measures to limit systemic fallout.
The European Central Bank said Monday that stablecoins may siphon off important retail deposits from euro-area banks and warned a run on one of these coins could pose risks to global financial stability.