ECB

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.

Dutch central bank governor Olaf Sleijpen warned that a run on stablecoins could force issuers to liquidate reserve assets, amplifying market stress and complicating the ECB's policy choices.

Reports say the EU's central banking apparatus quietly acquired Bitcoin despite ECB President Christine Lagarde earlier rejecting crypto for reserve portfolios. If confirmed, the purchase would raise questions about policy coherence and market signaling.

The ECB President said Bitcoin will not be included in EU central bank reserves, citing insufficient liquidity and security to meet sovereign reserve standards.