ECB’s Cipollone says digital euro key to payments sovereignty in ‘weaponised’ world

European Central Bank executive Piero Cipollone has argued that rising geopolitical tensions make a European-controlled payments system a strategic necessity.

Rising geopolitical tensions are strengthening the case for a European-controlled digital payments system, according to European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Piero Cipollone.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, shared by the ECB on Wednesday, Cipollone described the proposed digital euro as “public money in digital form,” arguing that it was needed to complement cash and address an increasingly fragmented payments landscape in Europe, especially as e-commerce grows. 

He noted that cash accounted for around a quarter (24%) of day-to-day transaction value in 2024, down sharply from 2019 (40%), and said the ECB had a responsibility to adapt how it provided money as a public good.

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