European Central Bank official: Need to establish a Europe-led digital payment system, digital euro is key

PANews January 28 News, according to Cointelegraph, Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank Executive Board, stated that the escalating geopolitical tensions highlight the necessity of establishing a Europe-led digital payment system. In an interview published by the European Central Bank on Wednesday, Piero Cipollone described the proposed digital euro as a “digital form of public money,” and pointed out that the digital euro is crucial for supplementing cash and addressing Europe’s increasingly fragmented payment landscape, especially amid the booming e-commerce sector. Piero Cipollone noted that by 2024, cash transactions will account for about a quarter (24%) of daily transactions, a significant decline from 40% in 2019. He stated that the European Central Bank has a responsibility to adjust its approach to providing money as a public good. Piero Cipollone directly linked this task to geopolitics, warning that “all possible tools are being weaponized,” and the increasingly tense global situation underscores the need to establish a “completely controlled” European retail payment system based on European technology and infrastructure, rather than non-European vendors.