The European Central Bank published a response from President Christine Lagarde to a member of the European Parliament outlining the proposed digital euro’s privacy safeguards. The digital euro would complement rather than replace cash, while giving Europeans access to central bank money in digital form. Offline payments would offer cash-like privacy, with transaction details visible only to the payer and payee. For online payments, only payment service providers could link transactions to users’ identities for anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing compliance, while commercial use of personal data would require explicit consent. The Eurosystem would receive encrypted and pseudonymized data and would be unable to identify individual payers or recipients. EU co-legislators will determine the final balance between privacy and objectives such as combating money laundering and other illicit activity in the digital euro regulation. The ECB stands ready to provide technical input.
European Central Bank2026-08-07
European Central Bank outlines digital euro privacy safeguards and reiterates support for cash
The European Central Bank outlined privacy safeguards for the proposed digital euro and reiterated that it would complement, not replace, cash. Offline payments would provide cash-like privacy, while online payments would allow identity linking only through payment service providers for regulatory compliance. EU co-legislators will determine the final balance between privacy and financial crime controls.