The digital euro now has a timeline. Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s Executive Board responsible for payments, said in an interview with Milano Finanza (published by the ECB on October 24) that a pilot will begin in 2027, in which ECB staff and staff from national central banks will make real payments.

The underlying issue is sovereignty. Today, cash is the only central bank money citizens can use, and we are paying more and more online. Two out of every three card payments go through non-European networks.

How it would work:

• A limit on what you hold, not what you spend. If your balance falls short, the rest is charged to your linked bank account. The limit amount has not yet been set.

• Offline payments by bringing two devices close together, with data shared only between the person paying and the person receiving payment.

• It will be distributed by banks, through their own apps or a standard Eurosystem app. The ECB will not open accounts for individuals.

• It will coexist with cash and cards.

The timeline depends on Brussels. The European Parliament approved its position on July 9 and is negotiating the final text with the Council and the Commission. If the regulation is passed before the end of the year, the ECB estimates that the digital euro could reach citizens in 2029.

There is also a detail for those following tokenization: Pontes has been operational since September 21, enabling transactions carried out on DLT platforms to be settled using central bank money.

My take: the ECB is no longer talking about the digital euro as an experiment, but as infrastructure with a timeline. The two pieces that matter most to users and banks remain to be finalized: the holding limit and how costs will be shared with merchants. Meanwhile, with Pontes, the Eurosystem is stepping fully into the settlement of tokenized assets.

Full analysis at territorioblockchain.com

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