EU announces conditions for launching its own cryptocurrency

Representatives of the European Union have stated that the digital euro will not allow companies to pay bills or issue salaries, and will not be able to be used in decentralized finance. These restrictions from the EU will be imposed immediately after the launch of the digital currency and will have several stages. The first stage will be intended only for the transfer of funds between people and organizations. According to Evelyn Whitlocks, the head of the digital euro program at the European Central Bank (ECB), the developers see three main options for using the digital currency

• peer-to-peer payments, through which people will be able to make personal transfers to each other
• payments between buyers and sellers in real and virtual stores
• payments to the state or between government organizations.

Other potential uses of the digital euro, according to Whitlocks, will be considered much later. Currently, the EU does not perceive blockchain as a potentially important technology that can be used at the state level. The agency believes that it is first necessary to prove that the technology is safe and has sufficient bandwidth.

According to Jana Seissens, Head of Digital Finance at the European Commission, the digital euro must meet modern demands from society. At the same time, when developing CBDC, one should not rush and immediately try to capture the Web3 segment. First of all, the currency should serve ordinary users. Thus, the EU is inclined to believe that the digital currency will start working no earlier than 2026.