News in Brief

ECB Provides Future of Cash Overview

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone has confirmed in a speech the ECB’s view that euro cash will remain essential alongside a digital euro, emphasising its role as a stable medium of exchange and store of value. He showed the demand for the euro over time, €1.6 trillion in circulation and 2.3% annual growth, especially during crises, and explained how this has prompted access to cash regulations.

The ECB also opposes ‘no cash’ policies and is promoting EU-wide rules to enforce cash acceptance in essential services like public transport.

At the same time, the ECB sees a digital euro as replicating cash benefits (anonymity, reliability) in the digital space, with Distributed Ledger Technology integration plans to be ready by 2026 and with the issue, in due course, of new designs of euro banknotes with enhanced anti-counterfeit features.