The Digital Euro is upon us

And we should be more than worried

The talks about introducing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have been going on for years now. First dismissed as a conspiracy theory, it’s an undeniable fact that most major economies are now looking into the possibilities of introducing a ‘digital coin’ or are already running advanced pilots.

Before I get into the specifics of the European Central Bank Digital Currency (the Digital Euro) and what we should expect, it’s important to know what Central Bank Digital Currencies are - and more importantly what they are not.

CBDCs are often misleadingly described and oversimplified as ‘‘just another form of digital money’’ that would serve as a ‘‘supplement’’ to cash. “But we already have digital money?”, you might ask. Yes, correct. The money that we currently have in our electronic bank accounts, that we use to make online transactions with, or that we use to pay with our bankcards with, is already digital. So what’s the difference with CBDC’s?