The European Central Bank has set a deadline to launch its Central Bank Digital Currency, with the president of the bank Christine Lagarde confirming October 2025 as the deadline.
According to reports, Lagarde was asked how she perceived the race to launch a CBDC and what edge it could give the continent especially when Donald Trump sign an executive order against it in the United States.
She noted that the ECB has been working on the digital euro for about five years, noting that it started with her predecessor. She added that it is time to finalize it and make it a reality.
“(The ECB is) focused on accelerating the pace and hopefully campaigning enough with all the stakeholders so that we can eventually, not put to bed, but put to reality this digital euro. The deadline for us is going to be October 2025 and we are getting ready for that deadline,” she said.
However, Lagarde noted that the date is still tentative because the effort is collaborative and it requires approval from other parties involved. She added that until the stakeholders take a vote to decide, it will remain an experimental idea.
European Central Bank president drums the importance of a CBDC
According to her statement, Lagarde supports the idea of a digital euro for the continent, noting that it needs to be at retail and wholesale levels. “I think it is critically important, and for the agnostics or the skeptics, it now seems more relevant and more imperative than ever before, both on the wholesale and on the retail level,” she said.
Lagarde’s comments are not new, seeing as the whole of the ECB thinks the idea of a CBDC is great. While the Trump administration feels it is better off with cryptocurrencies and meme coins, the ECB feels a CBDC is the best choice. According to an ECB official, it presents a better opportunity for the ECB to thrive, noting the gap left by Trump’s executive order.
However, there have been concerns about its potential impact, which comes after the bank mentioned that it was designed to complement cash. Some of these concerns were from the crypto community, with most members noting privacy and how the government could easily monitor their activities. This was the main reason why the CBDC was pushed back in the United States.