Digital Euro: German Minister Calls for Quick Decision on EU CBDC

Germany’s finance minister has called on stakeholders in the region to expedite action on plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The EU is currently examining the case for a digital Euro even as China accelerates its digital yuan testing protocols.

Huge Demand for Digital Currency

According to Reuters, the German finance minister Olaf Scholz wants Europe to move faster with developing a working digital currency product. Commenting on the issue, Scholz remarked that there is currently a considerable appetite for virtual currencies among consumers and business entities alike, adding:

“On the digital euro, I think we should work very hard. It is nothing where we should wait and see. [We] should be able to decide at any time that now we should do something with a digital euro.”

Scholz, a noted crypto critic recently stated that he does not support private crypto tokens. Indeed, Scholz was one of the first European finance chief to speak out against the Libra project. In Sept. 2019, the German government unveiled its blockchain strategy geared towards thwarting the efforts of private cryptocurrency projects.

Back in September, BTCManager reported that the European Central Bank (ECB) was soon to publish its report on plans for a digital Euro. ECB president Christine Lagarde has also previously remarked that a digital Euro will provide a suitable alternative to cryptocurrencies and will act as a complementary monetary system to the existing fiat infrastructure.

Indeed, Lagarde’s comments favoring CBDCs over private cryptos are in keeping with the consensus among stakeholders in mainstream finance. While some critics point to potential financial risks, the ECB has since dismissed the possibility of cryptocurrencies upending the monetary stability of the region.

CBDC and Private Stablecoins

Scholz’s comments calling for the ECB to increase the pace of its digital Euro development effort comes as many countries are making significant strides in the CBDC arena. Earlier in November, the Bank for International Settlements issued a paper stating that sovereign digital currencies might be better than private stablecoin projects like Facebook’s Libra.

Amid the flurry of national CBDC projects, some countries are calling for a coordinated global approach to developing a worldwide digital currency framework. China’s President Xi Jinping recently called for proactive participation from China in the development of global CBDC infrastructure.