YEREVAN, August 27. /ARKA/. The digital euro will provide users with maximum privacy, said Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank (ECB). The digital euro is a new form of euro that the ECB plans to launch in a pilot mode as early as next year.
Cipollone made this statement in an interview with the Italian publication ilsussidiario.net, which was published by the ECB on Monday. When asked whether the ECB would be able to track payment habits and how each citizen uses the digital euro, he replied that the digital euro is intended for use in offline mode. In this case, transactions will be made directly between individuals, and the corresponding data will be accessible only to the payer and the recipient of the payment.
According to him, in online mode, the Eurosystem will not be able to identify the people making or receiving payments. Only the banks involved in the transaction will be able to do this, including for anti-money laundering purposes.
In a bank transfer, all transaction details are known to the parties involved, noted the ECB representative. However, he stated that the digital euro will provide a higher level of privacy protection. “In practice, regardless of whether the digital euro is used online or offline, the Eurosystem will not be able to directly link specific individuals to transactions in the digital euro. The digital euro guarantees the highest level of privacy that can be ensured with modern technology,” said Cipollone.
In mid-July, the ECB selected 36 banks and companies for a 12-month pilot that is planned to launch in the second half of 2027. The release of the actual digital euro is scheduled for 2029.
