Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Financial institution’s Board of Governors, stated the rising adoption of stablecoins might erode the retail deposit base of economic banks.
He made the remarks on Friday in a speech on the Italian Federation of Cooperative Credit score Banks in Rome, arguing that digital funds are reshaping banking and rising reliance on cost infrastructure outdoors Europe.
Cipollone stated banks are already dropping cost charges and transaction information to cellular cost suppliers. He added {that a} digital euro would assist protect banks’ position within the cost system.
“A digital euro will preserve the position of public funds and make sure that banks stay concerned within the funds ecosystem whereas persevering with to serve the wants of their prospects,” Cipollone stated.
The ECB on Tuesday chosen 36 cost service suppliers, together with banks, fintechs and cost firms, for a 12-month digital euro pilot scheduled to start within the second half of 2027.
The mission goals to check how a retail central financial institution digital forex might function throughout the eurozone, earlier than the ECB comes to a decision to challenge it as early as 2029.
