---
title: "The digital euro: legal tender in the digital age"
description: ECB advocates for a digital euro to ensure monetary sovereignty, universal acceptance, and payment resilience in a rapidly digitizing world.
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---

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# The digital euro: legal tender in the digital age

 by [**Digital Euro Association**](https://digital-euro-association.de/blog/author/dea) on Jul 15, 2025, 3:19:24 PM

### Quick take

On 14 July 2025, ECB Executive Board member **Piero Cipollone** [detailed to](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2025/html/ecb.sp250714~437cfc6a51.en.html)[ the European Parliament’s ECON Committee](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2025/html/ecb.sp250714~437cfc6a51.en.html) why the digital euro should become legal tender alongside cash. His core message: if the euro is to stay sovereign and universally accepted in a digital world, the Eurosystem must issue a public digital form of cash.

#### Why the ECB says we need a digital euro

- **Cash is fading fast.** Between 2019 and 2024 the share of cash in day-to-day transactions fell from 68 % to 40 % by volume and from 40 % to 24 % by value.
- **Foreign providers are filling the gap.** Only 7 of 20 euro-area countries still run a national card scheme, and European-owned e-commerce solutions dominate in just three.
- **Market failures persist.** A quarter-century after the euro’s launch, private initiatives have yet to deliver a pan-European payment network that works in shops, online and peer-to-peer. 

#### What a digital euro would do

1. **Keep money a public good.** Like notes and coins, it would be accepted everywhere in the euro area, offline as well as online.
2. **Boost resilience.** It would act as a reliable back-up if commercial systems fail, mirroring cash’s role in crises.
3. **Check market concentration.** Open standards and guaranteed acceptance would give merchants more leverage on fees and spur competition among payment firms.

#### The legislative angle

Cipollone backs the **Single Currency Package**, which simultaneously protects citizens’ right to pay with cash and creates the legal framework for a digital euro. Law-makers, he argues, can safeguard both choice and sovereignty by moving the package forward now.

### Bottom line

Ignoring the trend toward digital payments would leave Europeans dependent on non-European platforms, weaken monetary sovereignty and shrink consumers’ freedom to choose how they pay. A digital euro, issued by the central bank and anchored in law, is the ECB’s answer.

**Dive deeper:** [Full speech on the ECB website](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2025/html/ecb.sp250714~437cfc6a51.en.html)

---

 

Topics: [Digital euro](https://digital-euro-association.de/blog/tag/digital-euro)

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