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This “Revolutionary” Digital Euro is Coming—But Only If Bureaucrats Nod

BBG News

Somewhere in the labyrinthine heart of Frankfurt, where night outpaces hope and committees devour the souls of men, the European Central Bank shuffles toward the edge of yet another technological abyss: the digital euro. They call it “progress.” We call it Tuesday. 🕰️

Man vs. Machine: The ECB’s Epic Quest for a One-Click Pan-European Wallet

On a day probably indistinguishable from countless others, President Christine Lagarde, custodian of monetary orthodoxy and occasional teller of bedtime stories for the euro, told Xinhua (a state news agency—so you know it’s real) that glorious preparations are nearly finished. Well, nearly—pending a sacred ritual the bureaucrats call “legislative approval.” The phrase alone could put a Greek statue to sleep.

“We started six years ago,” Lagarde sighed, perhaps with the same grim serenity with which one counts years in exile. She expanded, world-weary and watchful, as though describing the construction of a new gulag:

We are getting to the point where, if the legislature supports the proposal, we should be ready to launch.

Why undertake such perilous exertion? “Simply because of client demand, to put it very simply.” If only everything in Europe was this simple: a continent’s payment system, rebuilt because your neighbor can’t find coins for the vending machine. Europeans, it seems, are united not just by ambition, but inconvenience.

Lagarde clarifies for the masses: one must have both digital and physical currency. “Many Europeans – not all, but many – like to pay electronically, digitally, without cash. Many Europeans still like cash. I like cash.” Here is the confession: one cannot fully part with the warmth of paper, nor the memory of simpler times, when your money could be hidden under a mattress, not frozen with a keystroke. Still, new banknotes are promised, for those who survive that long.

But maybe, behind the proud proclamations and reassuring “we will continue to have cash,” the truth can be glimpsed: the digital euro will unify, harmonize, align, and, above all, allow you to send money online, peer-to-peer, or for business—because nothing says progress like a payment system you still can’t use at the farmer’s market.

We want to make sure that we have a European offer that is available, so that within the entire euro area there is a means of payment and a solid currency that can help you transact both online, peer-to-peer, business-to-business, and that’s the purpose of the digital euro.

There you have it. The future is almost here—subject to paperwork, indecision, and perhaps the occasional luncheon. Have your smartphones at the ready. Or don’t. There’ll always be cash for the wise, those haunted by experience. After all, as Europe’s own invisible hand cranks out both code and new banknotes, who can say which will vanish first? 😉

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2025-06-16 09:58

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