DEA Quarterly Insights: Shaping the Future of Digital Money | Q2 2025

Welcome to the latest edition of the Digital Euro Association's Quarterly Insights! 

This comprehensive blog post presents a concise overview of our association's activities and achievements over the past three months. As we continue to navigate the ever-changing landscape of digital money, this summary highlights our strides in promoting financial innovation, fostering education, and exploring groundbreaking initiatives.

Join us on this exciting journey as we delve into the key milestones and accomplishments that shape the future of digital money!

New Members  

In Q2 2025, the DEA welcomed BitGo and Deutsche Börse Group as its newest lite members.

BitGo is the leading infrastructure provider of digital asset solutions, offering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing and settlement out of regulated cold storage.

Deutsche Börse Group is one of the world’s leading exchange organisations, providing investors, financial institutions, and companies with access to global capital markets.

Distinguished People and Public Affairs

Digital Freedom Declaration

In May, the DEA officially signed the Digital Freedom Declaration, joining a growing coalition of organizations committed to safeguarding privacy, openness, and human rights in the digital age. At a time when digital payment systems, CBDCs, and financial infrastructures are rapidly evolving, digital freedom must remain non-negotiable. The DEA has always advocated for a human-centric approach to digital money; one that protects privacy, promotes transparency, and supports democratic values.

👉 Read and sign the declaration
https://digitalfreedom.page/#declaration  

DEA Policy Exchange with MEP Damian Boeselager

In June, the DEA held a dedicated policy exchange with MEP Damian Boeselager, Shadow Rapporteur for the digital euro, to discuss critical design and policy questions emerging from the EU legislative process. Boeselager expressed strong support for the digital euro as a tool for European payment sovereignty, while also raising thoughtful challenges around merchant fees, value-added services, holding limits, and the broader rationale for CBDC issuance.

The discussion covered zero-fee payment models, the role of private sector innovation on public infrastructure, and the commercial viability of PSPs in a digital euro ecosystem. Offline functionality, democratic oversight, and regulatory scope were also key topics. Boeselager emphasized the need for the digital euro to reflect democratic legitimacy, user agency, and strategic clarity. The DEA welcomed this open exchange and will continue to support policymakers with evidence-based input and member-driven insights as the file advances through Parliament.

DEA Publications

ECB Progress Report – Digital Euro Rulebook

In April, the DEA published an update analysing the ECB’s 4th progress report on the digital euro, highlighting the Eurosystem’s move toward operational readiness. The report outlines key advancements in developing a unified digital euro rulebook, detailing workstreams on user experience, branding, fraud mitigation, risk management, and technical architecture. The DEA provided a breakdown of the Rulebook Development Group’s progress, highlighting developments such as UX standards, branding rules for PSPs, and dispute resolution processes, as well as infrastructure architecture across front-end and back-end layers.

Our contribution aimed to clarify how the ECB is translating high-level design into executable standards, while also raising questions around remaining gaps, such as latency, merchant onboarding, and acceptance tech. Notably, we emphasised the importance of ensuring real-world usability and resilience in areas like offline payments, seamless user journeys, and integration with PSPs. 

💎 Access is exclusive for DEA members. Know more about the DEA memberships here.

DEA Explainer - Making Sense of Digital Money in Europe and Beyond

In May, the DEA published an Explainer on Digital Money to clarify the fast-evolving landscape of digital currencies. It outlines key forms—retail and wholesale CBDCs, stablecoins, deposit tokens, and crypto-assets—highlighting their roles, issuers, and implications.

The explainer contrasts Europe’s sovereignty-driven, regulated approach with the U.S.'s market-led model, spotlighting both Europe’s regulatory strengths (e.g., MiCAR) and infrastructure gaps. A central message: the true competition isn’t between retail CBDCs and stablecoins, but at the institutional layer, where stablecoins, wholesale CBDCs, and deposit tokens vie to underpin tokenized finance.

👉 Read the related blog post
https://digital-euro-association.de/blog/making-sense-of-digital-money-europes-strategic-response-to-the-global-digital-currency-revolution 

👉 Read the explainer
https://7869715.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7869715/DEA%20Explainer%20on%20Digital%20Money.pdf 

The Role of Stablecoins in Financial Sovereignty: Strategic Considerations for EU Policymakers

In early June 2025, the DEA published the paper “The Role of Stablecoins in Financial Sovereignty.” Drawing on the more than $6 trillion in adjusted-value stablecoin transactions and a $225 billion market cap clocked over the previous 12 months, we set out to ask a simple question: does the rise of stablecoins strengthen or erode a country’s grip on its own financial destiny? 

We argue it can do both. To make that concrete, we introduced a four-cell taxonomy - LILD, LIFD, FILD, FIFD - that captures where a coin is issued and which currency it tracks, showing why a locally-issued euro-stablecoin (LILD) can enhance sovereignty while a foreign USD-stablecoin (FIFD) can challenge it.

Taking Europe as the test case, we drilled into four sovereignty lenses: monetary, payments, regulatory and digital, and warned that today’s 99 % USD-peg dominance amounts to “digital dollarization” that sidelines the euro in emerging rails.

To conclude, we set out five action points for policymakers: fine-tune MiCAR, back euro-denominated stablecoins, double down on public-private collaboration, invest in EU tech infrastructure, and lead globally on rule-setting. 

👉 Read the related blog post
https://digital-euro-association.de/blog/the-role-of-stablecoins-in-financial-sovereignty 

👉 Read the paper
https://digital-euro-association.de/working-groups 

DEA Position Statement on Digital Money

We are proud to have published a formal DEA Position Statement in June 2025, outlining our views, values and policy priorities for the future of digital money in Europe. It sets out the DEA’s position across four key pillars: stablecoins, the retail and wholesale digital euro and deposit tokens.

This document marks a milestone in presenting not just an analysis, but a firm stance on the frameworks, protections and innovations we believe are essential. It is a public articulation of principles we stand behind – from safeguarding privacy and sovereignty to fostering interoperability and responsible innovation.

We call for proportional, innovation-friendly regulation under MiCAR; a retail digital euro built with privacy at its core, offline functionality, and universal accessibility; and a wholesale digital euro leveraging DLT to modernise European financial infrastructure. We also recognise the value of deposit tokens issued by regulated banks, provided they are backed by clear legal frameworks and integrated with the broader financial system. Across all instruments, we advocate for a competitive, secure, and inclusive digital euro area that serves both public purpose and market dynamism.

👉 Read the position
https://digital-euro-association.de/dea-position-statement 

DEA Events 

DEA Member Spotlight Series | Episode 1 - MetaMUI Chained Cash, Sovereign Wallet Technology, and Indigenous Digital Infrastructure

In April 2025, Tamara F Schmidt interviewed Phantom Seokgu Yun, Founder & CEO of Sovereign Wallet, about the MetaMUI Chained Cash, Sovereign Wallet Technology, and Indigenous Digital Infrastructure on the newest episode of the DEA Members Spotlight Series. ​Phantom also shares insights into the practical implementation of Indigenous Digital Infrastructure, incorporating a Unified Ledger, Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure, an identity-based wallet, on-chain voting, and more. Additionally, he provides a brief overview of an upcoming digital identity and digital currency deployment in Birri Gubba and its integration into AUDD, a unified digital currency for Indigenous nations.

Watch the episode 👇

DEA General Assembly Recap – April 2025

On April 15th, 2025, the DEA held its annual General Assembly, bringing members together to review 2024, set strategic priorities, and approve plans for the year ahead.

Key Highlights:

• Annual Report 2024: Presented major achievements and developments from the past year.

• Strategy & Budget 2025: Members approved the strategy and budget, confirming alignment on DEA’s direction.

• Strategic Focus: The assembly emphasized expanding public affairs, deepening engagement with EU institutions, and increasing in-person events to strengthen community ties.

The meeting concluded with a strong mandate to keep advancing DEA’s mission in shaping the digital euro and digital money landscape.

DEA Member Spotlight Series | Episode 2 - Presenting EURM, the first EU-regulated stablecoin developed by MONEI

In May 2025, Tamara F Schmidt interviewed Alex Saiz Verdaguer and Dmitriy Nevzorov from MONEI for the latest episode of the DEA Members Spotlight Series. They explored EURM, the euro-pegged stablecoin developed by Spanish fintech MONEI, and its successful testing in Spain’s Regulatory Sandbox. Launched as a pilot in January 2024, EURM enables euro transfers via 1:1 pegged tokens and was tested over four months in a controlled environment. They discussed how MONEI validated the token’s registration, issuance, transfer, and redemption processes; all without relying on public blockchain infrastructure or external providers.

Watch the episode 👇

Stablecoin Committee

On 28 May 2025 the DEA inaugurated the Stablecoin Committee, as “one neutral stage, many voices” to shape Europe’s fast-moving stablecoin landscape.

Unlike DEA’s deep-dive working groups, the Committee meets monthly (every 4th Wednesday) and produces agile outputs including  flash-letters and policy briefs, rather than long research papers reserved for the Working Groups.

Why now? With MiCAR transpositions rolling out, global rule-making accelerating and the stablecoin market surpassing $250 bn, policymakers are actively soliciting balanced input. The Committee therefore aims to Monitor → Curate → Advocate, converting industry “noise” into joint intelligence and advocacy for bodies such as the ECB and ESMA.

Membership spans subject-matter experts, institutional members (banks, issuers, PSPs), and invited regulator guests, ensuring a multi-stakeholder perspective from day one. 

Join Us! DEA institutional members gain access through their existing tier. We hope to hear your voice at the next call!

Webinar The Role of Stablecoins in Financial Sovereignty: Strategic Considerations for EU Policymakers

To launch the DEA’s latest working group paper, we held an online event in June 2025 exploring how stablecoins intersect with Europe’s financial sovereignty. Moderated by DEA Executive Director Anne-Sophie Kappel, the panel featured the paper’s co-chairs and guest speaker Prof. Peter Bofinger.

The discussion unpacked the paper’s taxonomy (LILD, LIFD, FILD, FIFD) and examined stablecoins’ impact on monetary, payments, regulatory, and digital sovereignty. Key takeaways included the need to support euro-denominated stablecoins, close MiCAR gaps, invest in EU infrastructure, and lead on global standards for digital money.

Watch the webinar 👇

Events DEA attended

In May, DEA had the opportunity to participate in the following events:

• Block im Park 2025 hosted by Deutsche Bank and Eintracht Frankfurt
  Panel Discussion: DeFi und Tokenisierung: Quo Vadis?

• The Banking Scene Conference 2025
  Panel Discussion: From Wholesale to Retail: The Ripple Effect of CBDCs on Payments

June

• Between the Towers organized by neosfer
  Presentation: Krypto, Stablecoins, digitaler Euro & die Rolle von Banken 

• Financial Innovation in Bolivia: Blockchain and Crypto Asset Regulation organized by the Science and Technology Committee of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia
  Panel Discussion

DEA Videos

Digital Euro Conference 2025

What does the future of money look like? As economies and payment systems become increasingly digital, we’re seeing the rise of new monetary forms: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and Commercial Bank Money Tokens (CBMTs). Each is playing a role in reshaping the financial ecosystem.

With central banks advancing their CBDC initiatives and CBMTs gaining momentum, the financial system is headed toward a future where public and private digital money coexist in new, interoperable ways.

On March 27, 2025, the Digital Euro Conference 2025 (DEC25) returned to Frankfurt, bringing together central bankers, policymakers, financial experts, tech innovators, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs. This year’s event explored the latest developments in digital currencies, from infrastructure and regulation to emerging use cases and market readiness.

👉 Catch up on the full recap here:
https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/the-digital-euro-conference-2025-a-recap 

Watch all DEC25 presentations and panel discussions below 👇

DEA Podcast

Bringing Traditional Finance On-Chain with Stablecoins — A Conversation with Eurodollar

In a recent episode of the DEA Podcast, we sat down with our member Eurodollar to explore their efforts in connecting the dots between Traditional Finance (TradFi) and the evolving world of on-chain finance.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation:

✅ The Vision Behind USDE:

Eurodollar introduced USDE, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, designed to bring trust and usability to digital finance.

✅ Adding Yield with USDI:

We discussed USDI, Eurodollar’s money market bond, which allows users to earn passive yield on their USDE holdings—blending familiar TradFi mechanisms with blockchain efficiency.

✅ MiCAR and Regulatory Clarity:

The conversation highlighted how the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) paves the way for regulated, EU-issued stablecoins. Eurodollar views this as a major step toward making Europe a leader in compliant digital asset innovation.

✅ Eurodollar’s Role in the Future of Stablecoins:

The team shared their ambitions to make stablecoins safer, regulated, and ready for real-world trade, helping build the infrastructure for widespread adoption.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/74-eurodollar-tradfi-stablecoin 

This Month in Digital Money - April 2025

April saw growing stablecoin momentum and regulatory shifts: Standard Chartered forecasted $2T market growth by 2028, Circle announced a global payments network, and Google began enforcing MiCAR-compliant crypto ads in Europe. Amid this, we explored the ECB’s renewed push for the digital euro, the UK’s progress on the digital pound, and Project Meridian FX’s breakthrough in real-time cross-border settlement.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/75-neue-episode  

This Month in Digital Money - May 2025

May explored regulatory and infrastructure advancements. We tracked stablecoin frameworks progressing in the UK and Hong Kong, while Europe launched its digital euro innovation platform to accelerate testing and stakeholder collaboration. In parallel, Switzerland’s successful CBDC pilot sparked a ‘tokenisation gold rush’ and Ripple made headlines with a $25 million pledge towards US education – signalling crypto’s growing political engagement.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/76-neue-episode  

This Month in Digital Money - June 2025

June was marked by landmark institutional moves and legislation: Société Générale became the first major bank to issue a USD stablecoin, and Circle took another step toward mainstream legitimacy with its IPO plans. We looked at South Korea’s integrated digital asset strategy, and highlighted Christine Lagarde’s call for urgent EU legislative action on the digital euro. Most notable, the US GENIUS Act – a key bill for the regulation of stablecoins in the US – was passed in the Senate, marking a major milestone in global crypto legislation.

🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/77-neue-episode  

The DEA remains committed to pioneering the future of digital money, driven by innovation, collaboration, and a shared vision of a digitally empowered world. As we look ahead to the next quarter, we are excited to embark on new endeavors, expand our horizons, and continue making a positive impact. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

⏪ Previous Edition: https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/dea-quarterly-insights-q1-2025  

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