The ECB picked 36 banks and payment firms, including Deutsche Bank and Revolut, to test a digital euro starting in late 2025. The project targets a 2029 launch and aims to counter dollar-backed stablecoins.
The European Central Bank chose 36 banks and payment firms to test a digital euro in a pilot starting late next year, moving the project closer to a potential 2029 launch.
The group, selected from 50 applicants, includes Adyen, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, SumUp, UniCredit and Worldline, the ECB said on its website. The pilot will run for 12 months across the ECB and 19 euro-area national central banks, covering online and offline transfers between individuals, in-store payments and e-commerce purchases.
Legislation enabling the currency has not been finalised. The central bank is pushing forward anyway because it sees dollar-backed stablecoins such as Tether's USDT and Circle Internet's USDC as a threat to Europe's monetary autonomy, according to the ECB's published rationale.
CBDCs face opposition. Privacy advocates worry that transactions can be monitored and that a central bank could block access to the currency. In the US, a law signed last month bars the Federal Reserve from creating a digital dollar until Dec. 31, 2030. The European project moves in the opposite direction. A European Parliament committee advanced the proposed legal framework last month.
During the pilot, the currency will be close to the design set out in draft EU legislation but will not have legal status. ECB staff and employees of national central banks will act as consumers. Selected restaurants, cafeterias and online merchants will accept payments.
The final decision to issue a digital euro requires the legislation to pass and a separate vote from the ECB's Governing Council. The ECB has said it could be ready for a possible issuance in 2029.
The push for a digital euro comes as stablecoin activity grows. Visa and BlackRock have both moved deeper into the space, and PayPal's $2.8 billion PYUSD recently got a Polygon boost. Crypto derivatives volume dwarfed spot trading by 4.4 times in June, according to a Cboe report, while CEX spot volumes rose for the first time in five months. Real-world asset perpetuals hit a record $311 billion.
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