European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has been vocal with her plans to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and in a recent video chat, she revealed that the main aim of the digital euro would be to control payments being made. Appearing to talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of the ECB said that a digital euro would be a way for Europeans to avoid relying on an “unfriendly countries currency” or on a currency offered by large social media or tech corporations. This sparked huge criticism from the crypto and blockchain community, as people saw this as an intrusion of privacy and freedom of transactions.

In the past, the ECB had already begun a two-year investigation period on the possibility of launching a digital euro and Lagarde noted that the decision will be made in October this year. This is mostly seen as a way for the Central Bank to increase its control over the economy, given that terrorist attacks, for example, can be financed this way with small and anonymous transactions.

The criticism from the crypto and blockchain community is strengthened by numerous examples of attempted regulations, especially with regards to privacy, that have failed in the past, so against a background of distrust of government institutions, the thought of an unbounded and unfettered digital currency is an attractive one. In this context, the upcoming decision from the ECB could be the spark that ignites faster adoption and support for cryptocurrency in Europe.



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