In a speech in Rome, European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone argued that euro area monetary sovereignty is increasingly exposed by Europe’s reliance on non-European payment solutions and the potential growing role of US dollar-denominated stablecoins. He outlined a policy and infrastructure agenda centred on a digital euro for retail payments, tokenised central bank money for wholesale settlement in distributed ledger technology (DLT) markets, and expanded cross-border instant payment links. Cipollone highlighted that international card schemes account for about two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area and that 13 of 20 euro area countries lack a domestic card scheme, while more than one-third of day-to-day payments are online and cannot use cash. The digital euro is presented as a European public option and legal tender for digital payments, designed to be accepted by all merchants that accept digital payments and to support private solutions through co-badging and open standards, with issuance conditional on adoption of a digital euro Regulation. For wholesale markets, the ECB is preparing tokenised central bank money for DLT-based digital asset settlement, including “Pontes” as a bridge between T2 and DLT targeted for the third quarter of 2026 and “Appia” as a market-led path towards a pan-European DLT ecosystem, with a paper on Appia due in the coming weeks. On cross-border payments, the Eurosystem is expanding links between TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) and other fast payment systems, noting existing connections with Denmark and Sweden, a planned link with India’s Unified Payments Interface in 2027, Norway’s expected participation in 2028, and further workstreams with Switzerland, Brazil and Nexus Global Payments, alongside support for a Western Balkan “TIPS clone” expected to become operational later in 2026. Next steps flagged in the speech include the publication of the Appia paper in the coming weeks, delivery of the Pontes DLT settlement solution in the third quarter of 2026, and the sequencing of the digital euro dependent on the legislative process for the digital euro Regulation.
European Central Bank 2026-02-12
European Central Bank outlines digital euro and tokenised central bank money plans to strengthen euro area monetary sovereignty
European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone emphasized the need for a digital euro to enhance euro area monetary sovereignty, addressing reliance on non-European payment solutions and US dollar-denominated stablecoins. He outlined plans for a digital euro as legal tender, tokenised central bank money for DLT markets, and expanded cross-border instant payment links, with key developments expected in 2026 and beyond.