European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde released a statement on Friday touting the digital euro, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), as a unifying force within the European Union (EU) and said the ECB aimed to launch it “as soon as possible.”
“Even though banknotes will continue to circulate, we want cash to also take the form of a digital euro,” Lagarde said. saidadding that the central bank digital currency could be used for online payments in the EU. She continued:
“It’s a big project because the euro is our currency, your currency. It brings us together. It’s a symbol of confidence in our common destiny, so here we go with the digital euro in the next and final phase of preparation.”
The ECB Governing Council announcement On Thursday, it will move forward with building the technical infrastructure to test and deploy a retail CBDC, deployment expected to begin in 2029if European lawmakers pass legislation authorizing the ECB to issue it.
CBDCs are widely seen as antithetical to cryptocurrencies and the core philosophy of decentralized and permissionless finance (DeFi). Critics claim that CBDCs create a digital prison this can endanger civil liberties, freedom of expression and human rights.
Related: European Central Bank chooses technology partners for digital euro
ECB announcement sparks strong reactions from crypto community
The ECB’s announcement sparked heavy criticism from the crypto community and received extremely negative feedback.
“Go away, witch, we’re going to use private money,” Mert Mumtaz, CEO of remote procedure call (RPC) node provider Helius, wrote in response to Lagarde and the ECB.
“The common currency is ‘a symbol of confidence in our common destiny,’ but the creation of a central bank digital currency erodes that confidence by opening the door to real-time tracking of our payments and spending habits,” said politics writer David Thunder. said.
In the meantime, legal proposals have been submitted by EU lawmakers in France and Germany. ban CBDCs and adopt Bitcoin (BTC), a decentralized, neutral, supply-capped digital currency.
Éric Ciotti of the Union of the Right for the Republic, a French political party, spearheaded a proposal Wednesday to ban CBDCs in the country.
The German political party Alternative for Germany also submitted a movement in October, urging the government to consider BTC as a national strategic asset.
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