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!
Senacor supports financial institutions and other organizations in the design, implementation, and modernization of complex digital infrastructures. With an end-to-end approach spanning business strategy, technology architecture, software development, and operations, the company has built a strong track record of delivering scalable, future-proof solutions for highly regulated industries.
Based in Hamburg, Gravning is a management consultancy specializing in the payments sector, supporting banks, financial institutions, retailers, and other industry participants across strategy, implementation, regulatory compliance, and payment transformation.
DEA Participates in EESC Hearing on the Digital Euro
Anne-Sophie Gógl - DEA Chairwoman
On 6 July 2026, the DEA participated in a public hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the introduction of the digital euro. Represented by Chairwoman Anne-Sophie Gógl, the DEA joined representatives from across Europe's payments ecosystem, including Christophe Bonte (EBF), Giorgio Andreoli (European Payments Council), Atze Faas (EuroCommerce), Oliver Roethig (UNI Europa), and Mireia Llambrich Anto (BEUC).
The hearing brought together cross-sectoral views at a critical stage in the digital euro's legislative development. The DEA contributed an ecosystem-wide perspective, emphasising that the digital euro must be designed not in isolation, but alongside existing payment infrastructures and emerging forms of public and private digital money. Sustainable economic incentives, privacy, accessibility and opportunities for innovation will be essential to making the digital euro work in practice.
Digital Euro Lab at the European Forum Alpbach 2026
From 26 to 28 August 2026, DEA Executive Director Anne-Sophie Kappel participated in the Digital Euro Lab at the European Forum Alpbach, an invitation-only, three-day expert workshop convened by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and Deutsche Bundesbank. Bringing together a select group of representatives from central banks, financial institutions, payment providers, academia and the wider digital-money ecosystem, the Lab focused on a crucial question: what will it take to make the digital euro work in real life?
Rather than revisiting the legislative debate or technical design, participants explored the practical conditions for successful market introduction, from consumer onboarding and merchant acceptance to communication, usability and incentives for private-sector participation. Discussions also examined how open infrastructure could support new payment services, business models and a wider European innovation ecosystem.
The central takeaway was that launching the digital euro is only the beginning. Its contribution to European sovereignty and competitiveness will ultimately depend on whether consumers adopt it, businesses integrate it and innovators see sufficient value in building on it.
From discussions to exclusive member insights
Building on these exchanges, the DEA published an exclusive Member Brief in September 2026, examining the conditions for successful digital euro adoption and its potential to support a broader European innovation ecosystem.
The publication translates the Lab's discussions into strategic insights on market readiness, private-sector participation, and the opportunities for developing new services and business models around public digital money.
💎 Access is exclusive to DEA members. Learn more about DEA membership here.
ECB Focus Session: Preparing for Pontes Go-Live
In July, the DEA published a member briefing on the ECB's preparations for the launch of Pontes, the Eurosystem's initiative to enable settlement of DLT-based transactions in central bank money. The briefing examined the operational framework, market implications and significance of connecting tokenised financial markets with existing Eurosystem settlement infrastructure.
Beyond the technical arrangements, the analysis considered how Pontes fits into the Eurosystem's broader strategy for wholesale digital money and the transition towards more integrated tokenised markets. It highlighted the importance of interoperability, market participation and the relationship between near-term settlement solutions and the longer-term Appia roadmap.
💎 Access is exclusive to DEA members. Learn more about DEA membership here.
DEA Member Spotlight Series | Episode 7 - The Digital Euro Operating Model: How Banks Can Prepare for the Next Payment Architecture
In August’s edition of our Member Spotlight series, we welcomed Florian Bongartz, Senior Business Development Manager at PPI AG, to explore how banks can prepare their infrastructure for the digital euro without rebuilding their existing systems from scratch.
The discussion highlighted why the digital euro represents more than just another payment method. It introduces new operational and architectural requirements, calling for a shift from traditional payment processing towards more flexible, event-driven orchestration models.
Key topics included the role of processing layers and state machines, the complexities of online and offline payments, compliance and auditability, and the implications for liquidity management. Particular attention was given to how banks can identify gaps in their existing infrastructure and adopt a step-by-step implementation approach while preserving their core banking systems.
The session also explored how architectural decisions made today could help banks prepare not only for the digital euro but also for emerging forms of digital money, including tokenised deposits and stablecoins.
Watch the episode 👇
Digital Euro Conference 2027
In September, the DEA officially launched the Digital Euro Conference 2027 (DEC27), taking place on 8 April 2027 at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Building on the success of previous editions, DEC27 will explore the future of digital money and tokenised finance, bringing together central banks, policymakers, financial institutions and industry leaders. Key topics will include the digital euro, stablecoins, tokenisation, agentic payments and Europe's financial sovereignty.
Explore the conference and secure your ticket: https://digital-euro-conference.de/
DEA Summer Forum 2026
On 22 September, the Digital Euro Association hosted the DEA Summer Forum 2026 in Frankfurt, in collaboration with Mayer Brown LLP, bringing together regulators, financial institutions, market infrastructures, technology providers, and industry experts for an evening of insightful discussions and networking.
This year's edition introduced a new, interactive format featuring two roundtables addressing key challenges shaping Europe's digital financial landscape.
The first, “Beyond the DLT Pilot: Building Europe’s Legal Framework for Tokenized Markets,” explored the regulatory and infrastructural challenges of scaling tokenized capital markets, highlighting the importance of interoperability, regulatory clarity, and overcoming market fragmentation.
The second, “One Token, Two Regimes: Can Global Stablecoins Work under MiCA?”, examined the regulatory treatment of stablecoins under MiCA, including multi-issuance, global competitiveness, and the balance between innovation and regulatory certainty.
The evening concluded with a networking reception, fostering further exchanges across Europe's digital finance community.
Read the recap: https://digital-euro-association.de/blog/recap-dea-summer-forum-2026
Watch the aftermovie 👇
From dialogue to exclusive member insights
Building on the Forum's discussions, the DEA published an exclusive Member Brief capturing the key arguments, differing perspectives, and strategic implications of both roundtables.
The publication examines how Europe's regulatory and infrastructure frameworks can evolve to support scalable tokenised markets and competitive stablecoin activity. A central takeaway is the importance of translating regulatory progress into practical solutions that enable innovation, liquidity, and internationally competitive markets.
💎 Access is exclusive to DEA members. Learn more about DEA membership here.
Eurosystem Dialogue with Banque de France and Deutsche Bundesbank
In September 2026, the DEA hosted a dialogue between the Banque de France’s Alexandre Stervinou and Deutsche Bundesbank’s Dr. Heike Winter to exchange perspectives on developments in European digital money. The discussion provided an opportunity to examine the Eurosystem's evolving initiatives and the role of central banks in shaping Europe's future payments and financial market infrastructure.
By bringing together perspectives from two major Eurosystem central banks, the event reinforced the importance of dialogue between public institutions and the wider digital-money ecosystem as Europe advances its ambitions for monetary sovereignty, innovation and competitiveness.
Watch the discussion 👇
In September, DEA had the opportunity to participate in the following events:
from left to right: Valentin Marinov (Crédit Agricole CIB), Bojidar Ibrishimov (WISER), Tamara F. Schmidt (DEA), Vladimir Stratiev (DSK Bank)
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-q2-2026
⏩ Next Edition: Coming soon
📚 Explore the Quarterly Insights Hub. Discover previous editions, key developments, and insights from across Europe's digital money ecosystem.