Digital euro: Digital cash or the end of privacy?

The digital euro promises public money for digital payments, but as of November 12, 2026, it remains a proposal, not a currency you can use. EU legislation is still being negotiated, the European Central Bank (ECB) has not decided to issue it, and 2029 is a conditional target. The key question is how much privacy it will preserve when we pay.

What is the digital euro and what changes?

The digital euro is being designed as a central bank digital currency for everyday use (retail CBDC). Like a banknote, it would be a claim on the central bank, not a deposit owed to us by a commercial bank. It is neither a cryptocurrency nor a stablecoin, that is, a privately issued digital currency that aims to hold a stable value.

It would be used through an app or a physical card, in stores, for online purchases and for person-to-person transfers. Banks and other payment service providers would distribute it, without necessarily requiring a conventional bank account. Basic services would be free for individuals, and acceptance would generally be mandatory for merchants, with exemptions still under discussion. Merchant fees would remain negotiable.

The official line is that it will complement cash, not replace it. A parallel legislative proposal deals with the acceptance and availability of cash. Pontes, launched in September 2026 to connect distributed ledger financial platforms with settlement services, is a separate project.

When could the digital euro launch?

The launch depends on legislation and a subsequent ECB decision, not just on technical readiness.

1. October 2020–January 2021 The public consultation drew 8,221 responses. Privacy came first at 43%, versus 18% for security; it was not a representative poll.
2. 2021–2023 The Eurosystem explored possible designs. The European Commission presented proposals on June 28, 2023, and the preparation phase began in November.
3. December 19, 2025 The Council of the EU agreed on a negotiating position, not a final law.
4. June 23–July 9, 2026 Parliament’s decisions to open negotiations followed, with Fernando Navarrete Rojas as rapporteur. The plenary voted 416 in favor, 169 against with 22 abstentions, which was not a vote for definitive issuance.
5. July–November 2026 Trilogue negotiations began. An industry update mentioned a sixth political meeting on November 5; on November 10, Piero Cipollone confirmed they are ongoing.
6. 2027–2029 The ECB plans a 12-month pilot from the second half of 2027, with 36 selected providers, merchants and central bank staff. The test instrument will not be legal tender; possible issuance in 2029 assumes, in its planning, that legislation is adopted in 2026.

Who will see online payments?

Online payments in digital euros are not being designed to be anonymous. Providers would identify users and see information needed to execute transactions, fight fraud and meet anti-money laundering obligations. The ECB says the Eurosystem would not be able to directly link transactions to identified individuals.

France’s data protection authority, CNIL, describes a central electronic ledger in which identifying details are replaced with a technical identifier before they reach the infrastructure. This pseudonymization limits the linking of data, but it does not guarantee anonymity. Think of a file with a number instead of a name: the question remains who can find the match.

European data protection authorities are asking for justification and safeguards for a proposed single access point to the identifiers. CNIL warns that such infrastructure could attract cyberattacks.

Will offline payments be like cash?

The offline mode, with no internet connection, promises greater confidentiality, not unlimited anonymity. The balance would be stored locally on a card or phone, and payments would be made between nearby devices. According to the ECB, only the payer and the payee would know the personal details of the transaction.

The provider would, however, see money being loaded and unloaded, where anti-money laundering checks are planned. Limits for offline payments have not been set. In the design CNIL describes, a lost device means offline funds that cannot be recovered, just like losing a physical wallet.

For a consumer in Greece, paying without internet access could be useful. Real accessibility, though, will be judged by the implementation, not by its description.

Why does the ECB want a public digital means of payment?

The strongest argument in favor is a public European alternative to private payment networks. In April 2026, Cipollone said that two-thirds of eurozone countries depend entirely on international card schemes for in-store payments. That documents the dependency problem, not that a new system will make it disappear.

Meanwhile, cash accounted for 52% of transactions at physical points of sale in 2024, down from 59% in 2022, according to the ECB. That is not all payments. We think it is reasonable to have a public option as transactions go digital, especially if it offers more confidentiality than services that commercially exploit payment data.

Could it become a tool of control?

The risk of control needs technical answers, not certainties in either direction. The ECB rules out programmable money, meaning restrictions by the issuer on products, times or recipients. It distinguishes this from conditional payments chosen by the user, such as payment on delivery. The final safeguards are still pending.

In a 2026 paper, Joe Cannataci, Benjamin Fehrensen, Mikolai Gütschow, Özgür Kesim and Bernd Lucke question the privacy of central monitoring and the guarantees of fully anonymous offline payments. These are contested assessments, not proven failures of a working system.

On June 17, 2026, organizations such as European Digital Rights, Access Now and Homo Digitalis called for privacy built into the architecture, independent code audits and protection against the reconstruction of payment histories. The proposal for a threshold for small transactions without monitoring by intermediaries also remains open.

How much will it cost, and what happens to deposits?

Cost and the possible outflow of deposits remain significant obstacles. Banks and analysts fear more expensive funding and pressure during crises. The ECB proposes non-interest-bearing balances and a holding limit; in its simulations, hypothetical limits of up to €3,000 did not harm financial stability. The €3,000 figure is not an established limit.

The Council’s position provides for a limit set by the ECB within an overall ceiling. With the proposed automatic transfer mechanism (waterfall), a linked account could absorb surpluses or cover shortfalls. So a holding limit does not necessarily mean the same payment limit.

The ECB estimates development costs of €1.3 billion for the Eurosystem and operating costs of about €320 million a year after issuance. For banks it estimates €4–5.8 billion, while a PwC study for banking associations sticks to about €18 billion. Its 2026 update excludes offline functionality, multiple accounts and operating costs. The estimates are not directly comparable.

Our take on the digital euro

We think the digital euro should be judged by verifiable safeguards, not by promises or doomsday scenarios. Today there is no evidence either that it abolishes privacy or that it guarantees privacy like a banknote does.

Independent technical audits, limited data collection, a useful offline mode and cash that is actually accepted in practice would convince us more. Conversely, opacity and the ability to reconstruct everyday purchases would deepen our reservations. For users in Greece, real choice matters more than yet another payment app.