The European Central Bank has published the results of a public consultation on a potential digital euro as the institution inches closer to deciding whether to formally study such an initiative. According to a Wednesday announcement, the ECB received more than 8,200 responses to its public digital euro consultation — a personal record for the bank regarding participation in a public consultation. Of the total responses, 47% came from Germany, with a significant amount also coming from Italy and France, accounting for 15% and 11% of total responses, respectively. The majority of respondents said that privacy was the most desired …

The European Investment Bank, an international financial institution owned by European Union member states, is reportedly exploring blockchain technology for issuing digital bonds. According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, the EIB has hired major global banks such as Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander and Société Générale to look at a potential deal involving a euro-denominated bond issued on a blockchain. Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg states that the EIB is planning to deploy blockchain technology for the registration and settlement of digital bonds. Investor meetings for the inaugural sale will reportedly start on Thursday and continue for several …

It could be a while before European Union gets a central bank digital currency, if it gets one at all. In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde laid out the complex decision-making process with which the bank will determine the future of a digital euro. The ECB will soon release its analysis of eight thousand responses received from its digital euro consultation process. “That will be communicated to the European Parliament which is one of the key players as well as the Commission and the Council with which we operate,” she stated. Based on …

The European Central Bank, or ECB, has been investigating the possibility of launching a digital euro project within five years to complement existing central bank money. But whereas high-profile leaders such as ECB president Christine Lagarde have been largely positive about the prospect, officials from Germany's Bundesbank have remained unconvinced. In a new op-ed for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ECB board member Fabio Panetta and fellow official Ulrich Bindseil attempted to tackle some of the Germans' misgivings head on: “The ECB is by no means planning to use a digital euro to enforce interest rates that are significantly more negative. …

Groupe Casino, a 120-year-old retail company headquartered in France, will reportedly be launching a stablecoin pegged to the Euro. According to journalist Grégory Raymond, the French retail giant will be launching the stablecoin to use in its stores’ loyalty programs as well as for trading. Groupe Casino oversees more than 11,000 stores in France and Latin America. The coin has reportedly been developed using the Tezos protocol in partnership with crypto exchange Coinhouse, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, stablecoin infrastructure provider Sceme, research and development firm Nomadic Labs, and financial services group Societe Generale. The new stablecoin, called the Lugh — named …

The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) thinks that central banks worldwide will not be holding Bitcoin (BTC) any time soon. In a conference call with The Economist on Feb. 10, Christine Lagarde showed herself to be firmly risk-off when it came to decentralized cryptocurrencies. "Out of the question" "It's very unlikely — I would say it's out of the question," she responded when asked about central bank Bitcoin uptake. Lagarde has long derided Bitcoin, which has surged at a time when the ECB prints huge amounts of liquidity in an attempt to shore up its financial jurisdiction after …

In an interview today, Fabio Panetta, executive member of the European Central Bank said the ECB may only allow digital euro holdings “up to a certain threshold” but added that the rollout of the central bank digital currency was unlikely to cause banks to lose deposits. Specifically, Panetta said that this threshold “could be around €3,000” — worth roughly $3,600 — which he said would still meet most people’s cash needs. He added that these figures were ”still under discussion” and that the ECB had also not yet decided on a cap for digital euro payments. Panetta emphasized that the …

Reserve currency is money held by central banks or treasuries usually for international transactions. Argentina is not going to be able to purchase a Boeing 737 MAX passenger jet, for example, with its highly inflationary peso; it will have to pay with U.S. dollars, which is why Argentina keeps dollars on hand — i.e., in “reserve.” A second basic function is to support the value of a national currency. If the Brazilian real, for instance, plummets during an economic contraction, Brazil’s central bank could bid it up again by purchasing reals with dollars that it holds in reserve. Could Bitcoin …

Central bank digital currencies have been an integral part of progressive discussions within the cryptocurrency community. CBDCs are virtual representations of the fiat currency of a particular country. They are often based on blockchain technology and are issued and regulated by the official monetary organization of the country. The feature that makes them different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) is that CBDCs are backed by the central bank’s deposits of the country’s currency and are regulated by the central bank, while cryptocurrencies are not. Cointelegraph discussed with Thomas Trépanier, director of business development for Roxe at Apifiny …

Decentralized stablecoin exchange Curve Finance has added the euro as a secondary currency option following demand from users. As announced in a tweet on Sunday, Curve now has a liquidity pool for switching between the Stasis Euro (EURS) stablecoin and a synthetic euro, sEUR, on the Synthetix derivatives platform. Currently, the stablecoin market is dominated by currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar, meaning that European and Asian users often have no option but to take on some U.S. dollar exposure whether they wish to or not. Curve hopes that the new pool will develop euro markets on the platform, gauge …

A number of popular U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins exist on the crypto market. Stablecoins based on the euro also exist, but are notably less liquid, according to Zahreddine Touag, co-founder and head of trading at Paris-based market making firm Woorton. “There’s not any euro stablecoin that is very liquid,” Touag said on Thursday during a Paris Blockchain Week conference panel, noting multiple points of rationale. The most impactful reason: “It’s very costly to do a euro stablecoin,” he noted, adding: “The primary source of revenue for U.S. dollar coins are the interest rates when you replace the U.S. dollar because you …

Germany’s Bankhaus von der Heydt, or BVDH, has launched a Euro stablecoin on the Stellar network. The bank claims the token is the first of its kind to be issued by a banking institute.The EURB stablecoin, which went live today, was developed on the Stellar blockchain in partnership with tokenization and digital asset custody technology provider Bitbond. The asset, which is fully regulated and backed one-for-one with Euros, will not be openly traded on exchanges due to tight regulatory and Know Your Customer requirements. If a customer wants to acquire the stablecoin, a fiat currency transfer is held in an …