ECB Proposes Digital Euro as an Essential Backup During Crisis Events

ECB Proposes Digital Euro as a Safety Net During Major Outages

A digital euro is deemed essential for enabling users to continue making payments in instances where traditional systems may falter, according to Piero Cipollone, a board member at the European Central Bank (ECB).

Key Points:

A digital euro could maintain business operations in the face of cyberattacks that cripple banks or payment providers.
An offline-capable digital euro app could serve as a backup during power failures affecting standard payment methods.
The ECB has been contemplating a digital iteration of its currency for several years, similar to actions taken by central banks globally.

Cipollone emphasized, “If a cyberattack caused the outage of a bank’s own app, but the bank’s backend services were still functioning, customers would still be able to access their accounts with that bank through the ECB’s digital euro app.”

Additionally, he remarked, “Cash is our only true fallback…but as society increasingly moves away from cash, and as cash itself may be difficult to access in emergencies, we need to complement it with a digital version.”

The ECB’s motivation also includes addressing increasing competition from stablecoins and non-bank payment platforms, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.