ECB’s Lagarde Has ‘Hunch’ Digital Euro Will Launch in 2-4 Years
ECB President Christine Lagarde says the impetus for a central bank digital currency could come from the need to facilitate cross-border finance.
In a speech at a Reuters online event Wednesday, Lagarde said bitcoin was a "highly speculative" asset.
The Italian Banking Association said the work would help financial institutions prepare for the future.
The digital euro project may get underway in mid-2021 after a period of review.
The Bank of France’s deputy governor said there has been a “hands-on approach” with the bank’s experiment to launch a digital euro for the general public.
A Bank of America report on a possible mass-adopted digital euro noted that such movement could spell difficulty for commercial banks that could see some of their deposits migrate to the European Central Bank.