The European Central Bank (ECB) has revealed a report on the issuance of central bank digital currency (CBDC), prepared by the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force.
According to an official press release, the Eurosystem will still issue cash despite digital counterpart.
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ECB President, Christine Lagarde, says the regulator "should be prepared to issue a digital euro, should the need arise."
In a 50-page report, the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force describes the potential effect of a digital euro and implied requirements, legal consideration and organizational approaches.
In particular, the ECB's digital euro should be:
- Designed so as to avoid potential undesirable consequences of its issuance;
- Available via supervised intermediaries, while IT project risks should be minimized;
- An efficient way to achieve the Eurosystem’s goals in comparison with alternatives.
The report also states that the launch of a digital euro "could affect the transmission of monetary policy and have a negative impact on financial stability."
"Substantial demand for digital euro may also have a negative impact on financial stability, given the key role of the banking sector in financial intermediation."
A payment made with digital euro that is not confirmed online can still be considered final "by relying on trusted hardware modules."
The offers four distribution models:
- Direct access by end users to central bank accounts;
- Intermediated access by end users to central bank accounts;
- Direct end-user access to a bearer digital euro.
A public consultation on the issuance of the digital euro is scheduled on October 12. It is expected that the watchdog will decide whether to launch a digital euro project or not in the middle of 2021.
iHodl earlier reported that the ECB applied for registration of the "digital euro" trademark.
The ECB lawyers of the German firm Bock Legal filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) on September 22. The application itself has not yet been approved.
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