ECB's Cipollone: Eurosystem Can't Identify Digital Euro Users
ECB board member Piero Cipollone says the Eurosystem won't identify digital euro users, as privacy concerns over CBDCs mount globally.
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The European Central Bank is pushing back on privacy concerns over its planned digital euro, with Executive Board member Piero Cipollone insisting the central bank would not be able to identify individual users.
In an Aug. 10 interview published Monday, Cipollone said the digital euro's design would limit the transaction information available to the Eurosystem.
"The Eurosystem would not be able to identify the users making or receiving payments," Cipollone said.
Only the banks involved in transactions would be able to identify users, including for anti-money laundering purposes. The Eurosystem would not be able to directly link specific individuals to digital euro payments. Offline digital euro transactions would make payment details available only to the payer and payee, he said.
The privacy pushback comes as government-issued digital currencies face scrutiny from lawmakers and privacy advocates who warn they could expand financial surveillance.
In the US, President Donald Trump prohibited federal agencies from developing or promoting a CBDC in January 2025, citing risks to financial stability, individual privacy and US sovereignty. House lawmakers have separately advanced the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which seeks to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC.
Beyond privacy, the ECB has presented the digital euro as part of Europe's effort to strengthen its payments infrastructure and reduce reliance on non-European payment providers. In an April public lecture in Latvia, Cipollone said Europe's reliance on non-European payment providers creates a strategic vulnerability. Two-thirds of euro-area card transactions are governed by non-European companies, and the digital euro could reduce that dependence and provide European-controlled payment infrastructure, he said.
The European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee backed its position on the digital euro legislation in June. Lawmakers later cleared the proposal for negotiations with the Council in July.
The ECB has said a digital euro could be issued as early as 2029, provided the necessary legislation is adopted and the project clears its remaining technical and operational stages.
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