ECB is preparing a digital euro release venue

The European Central Bank (ECB) lays the foundation for the launch of the digital currency (CBDC), the wholesale and retail central banks, which are digital euros. ECB president Christine Lagarde shared the update at her latest press conference. “President Lagarde emphasized that the digital euro is “more relevant than ever,” the ECB tweeted.

Lagarde emphasized that the Digital Euro, the EU’s CBDC solution, is scheduled to be released in October 2025. We recognize that this will pass the legislative phase involving key stakeholders, including the European Commission, Parliament and Council. Despite the significant impact of this initiative on daily life, it is the European citizens who do not particularly exist in this process.

Why is the digital euro more relevant than ever?

Can I link to Ursula von der Leyen’s recent “Rearm Europe” announcement? The initiative requires an estimated 800 billion euros of funds. This is not in the EU. option? Extract it from EU member states and their citizens, or print fresh funds through the ECB. In any case, it’s time to warm up your ECB money printer!

Furthermore, the EU is introducing a “Savings Investment Coalition” that redirects 10 trillion euros to “unused savings” from citizens, lending military growth and strengthening the European defence industry. “We will turn private savings into much-needed investments,” tweeted von der Reyen. If this hasn’t shocked you yet, I’ll try to clarify: this is a clear violation of the rights of private property, an implicit confiscation of European wealth, and will use their funds significantly as appropriate, including the funds of military industrial complexes, without the EU asking them.
As this statement suggests, if the EU is accelerating towards totalitarian collectivism, the CBDC becomes a powerful tool. It gives you more tight control over European money with features such as “on/off” switches and programming abilities.

Christine Lagarde recently campaigned in the European Parliament, claiming that the digital euro is needed to reduce its reliance on the EU’s foreign payment solutions. While European banks need to innovate their payment methods, the EU’s main concern is not just relying on high-tech giants like Google Pay and Apple Pay. This is the widespread adoption of decentralized global protocols like Bitcoin.

The ECB observes geopolitical trends and notes that the US accepts crypto, bitcoin, and stablecoins that pose risks to centralized management. Naturally, they have chosen a different pass. According to Reuters, “Eurozone banks need the digital euro to respond to President Donald Trump’s push to promote stubcoin as part of a broader crypto strategy.” Piero Cipolon, a member of the ECB board, stepped up this stance and said, “This solution will further hinder the bank to lose fees and lose clients. That’s why we need the digital euro.”

In conclusion, Lagarde and von der Reyen’s recent agenda aims to promote more centralized control while strengthening EU hierarchies, governance and incentive structures. This has always been their role.

New Digital Euro CBDC Survey

The ECB was recently released in a survey of consumer attitudes towards retail CBDCs, conducted among 19,000 Europeans in the 11 euro area. Important takeaways include:

1) Lack of interest – Most Europeans are not interested in the digital euro as existing payment methods are already suitable for their needs.

2) Europeans embrace propaganda – Although the public interest is low, the survey found that Europeans embrace video-based education and training. ECB research suggests that CBDC-related videos can promote widespread adoption by reconstructing consumer beliefs. The report states, “Consumers who show short videos that provide concise and clear communication about the key features of the digital euro are significantly more likely to update their beliefs. It is no wonder that the ECB has increased its digital euro video content since the second half of 2024.

3) Preferring existing payment methods – “Europeans strongly prefer existing payment methods and do not see real benefits in new types of payment systems.” This discovery sounds like a positive pushback, but it acts as a precursor to technological integration tactics. “If you can’t beat them, join them” tactics – just like China’s E-CNY retail CBDC.

A recent EuroMoney article highlighted the integration of E-CNY with China’s most popular apps (Didi, Meituan, Ctrip, Wechat Pay, Alipay) and encouraged its widespread adoption. Despite the early struggles, E-CNY currently boasts 180 million individual wallet users and a cumulative transaction value of $1 trillion. I recently looked into this topic in detail on a podcast on Roger Huang.

Not only retail, but wholesale as well

At the Wholesale CBDC Front, the EU is experimenting with distributed ledger technology (DLT) to interconnect European and later financial institutions. This follows the exploratory work carried out by the Eurosystem between May and November 2024. Their trials included over 50 experiments with 64 participants, including central banks, financial market players and DLT platform operators.

“Digital cash”

Lagarde argues that the digital euro is a kind of misleading cash, gaslight and misleading Europeans who are ignorant about the risks of CBDC. Permission-based CBDCs such as the Digital Euro are prone to micro-level control through expiration dates, geofencing and programmatic nature. If Europeans do not recognize these dangers, they will not resist the digital euro. By framing it “Digital cash” The ECB makes little or no fuss and ensures smoother public acceptance.

To be clear, the cash itself is Fiat currency– Centrally controlled, easily debated, prone to inflation. Every time an issuer expands its money supply, citizens suffer from a decline in purchasing power, essentially being taken away by the state.

“The rules are for you, but not for me.”

While ordinary citizens are bound by the rule of law, elites often avoid consequences. A major example is Christine Lagarde. He was found to be guilty of negligence by approving a large taxpayer-funded payment to controversial French businessman Bernard Tapie. However, she avoided being sentenced to prison. The Guardian reported in 2016: “The French court found the head of the International Monetary Fund and the former government minister who faced a fine of 15,000 and a year of prison. However, she should not be punished and the conviction did not constitute a criminal history.

My predictions for the EU CBDC

Despite public indifference, the ECB (and other central banks) will move the CBDC forward. To maintain the illusion of public engagement, they conduct research and create engagement tools. But ultimately, the digital euro will be integrated into existing payment methods and consumer apps, as China did with E-CNY. This strategy promotes recruitment even without direct public enthusiasm.

After all, we’re playing a game of “democracy” right?

Geopolitical analyst Alex Kreiner recently tweeted in response to the accelerated efforts of Lagarde and von der Reyen by CBDC. “This is great news. Christine Lagarde and Ursula von der Reyen have never taken over what they didn’t completely ruin, and we hope they continue their excellent performances.

Stay tuned as we continue to track central bank movements towards the implementation of CBDC.

This is a guest post by Efrat Fenigson. The opinions expressed are entirely unique and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

This post ECB prepares the basis for the digital euro release. It was first published in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Efrat Fenigson.