Odaily Planet Daily reports that Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated that the digital euro will offer the highest level of privacy currently achievable with existing technology. In offline payments, transaction information will be visible only to the payer and payee; in online payments, the Eurosystem will not be able to identify the parties involved, although the relevant banks still can.
The digital euro will still be distributed by commercial banks, which must continue to fulfill their existing identity verification and reporting obligations, including anti-money laundering requirements. The European Parliament has already established its negotiating position on the relevant regulations in July, and EU member states aim to reach an agreement by the end of 2026.
The ECB has identified 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month pilot, scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027, with an initial target for the launch of the digital euro in 2029. U.S. law prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency before the end of 2030; any issuance thereafter requires explicit authorization from Congress. (Decrypt)