European regulator may introduce digital euro as early as summer 2026

The European Central Bank is preparing a new stage in the development of the digital euro: in the summer of 2026, it is planned to introduce technical standards for the integration of CBDC into the payment system. This was stated by Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB Executive Board, emphasizing the importance of the project for preserving Europe’s monetary sovereignty.

According to him, the work on the digital euro covers four key areas: ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all users, stimulating innovation through a single payment platform, creating standards for service providers and operators, and launching a pilot project in a controlled environment.

Standards are expected to be announced by the summer, allowing terminal and payment app manufacturers to integrate the necessary settings at the delivery stage. This should ensure a simple transition to the use of the digital euro. The selection of participants in the pilot program will end at the end of June 2026, and testing will start in the second half of 2027 and last for about a year.

Earlier it was reported that the CBDC is considering the use of Ethereum and Solana blockchain networks to launch the CBDC. Experts note that the introduction of the digital euro will be one of the largest financial experiments in Europe, which may determine the future of the continent’s payment systems.