Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, has confirmed the regulator is considering the possibility of launching its own digital currency, Challenges reports.
At the same time, she has assured the currency will not affect private initiatives:
"The prospect of central bank initiatives should neither discourage nor crowd out private market-led solutions for fast and efficient retail payments in the euro area."
Lagarde has highlighted "the urgent need for faster and cheaper payments, especially in the case of cross-border transactions." According to her, the European Central Bank does not want to be just an observer of a changing world, but wants to play an active role in the crypto world and is looking for ways to reduce the negative impact of the fall in demand for cash.
Christine Lagarde replaced Mario Draghi as president of the ECB back in November after serving as president of the IMF for almost 10 years.
Last month the ECB established a crypto-focused task force whose aim is to work together with eurozone banks to study the benefits and costs of a CBDC.
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