The digital euro: legal tender in the digital age

Quick take

On 14 July 2025, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone detailed to the European Parliament’s ECON Committee 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