{"id":56681,"date":"2026-02-23T12:40:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/?p=56681"},"modified":"2026-02-23T12:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:45:31","slug":"digital-euro-takes-shape-ecb-to-select-partners-this-year-testing-launches-in-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/digital-euro-takes-shape-ecb-to-select-partners-this-year-testing-launches-in-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Euro Takes Shape: ECB to Select Partners This Year, Testing Launches in 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Digital Euro \u2013 The European Central Bank (ECB) is advancing preparations for the digital euro, with the project entering a new practical phase. According to Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB&#8217;s Executive Board, the bank will begin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecb.europa.eu\/press\/key\/date\/2026\/html\/ecb.sp260218~e8cad0ec0f.en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">selecting payment service providers<\/a> in the first quarter of 2026 who will participate in pilot testing of the new digital currency. The pilot itself is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027 and will last approximately 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shift toward selecting partners represents one of the most concrete steps in the project since the ECB moved into the next development phase in October 2025 and confirmed its ambition to launch the digital euro around 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Article Contents \u2013 Digital Euro:<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-aioseo-table-of-contents\"><ul><li><a class=\"aioseo-toc-item\" href=\"#aioseo-vyber-partneru-zacne-uz-letos-4\">Partner Selection Begins This Year<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"aioseo-toc-item\" href=\"#aioseo-digitalni-euro-moznost-ovlivnit-podobu-digitalni-meny-9\">Digital Euro \u2013 Opportunity to Shape the Digital Currency<\/a><ul><\/ul><\/li><li><a class=\"aioseo-toc-item\" href=\"#aioseo-odpoved-na-stablecoiny-i-globalni-karetni-site-13\">Response to Stablecoins and Global Card Networks<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"aioseo-toc-item\" href=\"#aioseo-digitalni-euro-legislativni-podminka-a-harmonogram-17\">Digital Euro \u2013 Legislative Requirements and Timeline<\/a><ul><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"aioseo-vyber-partneru-zacne-uz-letos-4\">Partner Selection Begins This Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Cipollone, the pilot will involve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/finance\/ecbs-cipollone-says-digital-euro-will-protect-european-banks-card-schemes-2026-02-18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a limited number of entities<\/a> \u2013 primarily payment service providers (PSPs), merchants, and Eurosystem staff. European-licensed PSPs are expected to serve as the key distribution channel for the digital euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participant selection is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026. For companies joining the project, this could mean a significant competitive advantage. The pilot will allow them to gain practical experience with processes such as client onboarding, transaction settlement, and liquidity management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They will also gain a clearer picture of future costs \u2013 for example, infrastructure, compliance, and personnel capacity \u2013 which can help with investment planning before any broader rollout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Don&#8217;t miss: <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/madisonsix-the-path-to-cryptocurrencies-without-technical-baggage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MadisonSix<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"aioseo-digitalni-euro-moznost-ovlivnit-podobu-digitalni-meny-9\">Digital Euro \u2013 Opportunity to Shape the Digital Currency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participating companies will not only test the technology but can also contribute to the design of the digital euro itself. Through direct collaboration with the Eurosystem, they will gain access to operational insights and the opportunity to influence how the final solution will work in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ECB emphasizes that the digital euro is intended to strengthen European payment infrastructure and preserve the key role of banks in the eurozone&#8217;s payment system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"aioseo-you-might-be-interested-how-to-choose-the-right-exchange-for-trading-your-cryptocurrencies-12\">You Might Be Interested: <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/guide-how-to-choose-the-right-exchange-for-trading-your-cryptocurrencies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">How to Choose the Right Exchange for Trading Your Cryptocurrencies?<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"aioseo-odpoved-na-stablecoiny-i-globalni-karetni-site-13\">Response to Stablecoins and Global Card Networks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Cipollone, banks face threats not only from stablecoins but also from private payment solutions and Europe&#8217;s dependence on international card schemes such as Visa or Mastercard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The digital euro pilot is therefore intended to support domestic European projects \u2013 such as the Italian card network Bancomat or the Spanish payment system Bizum. The goal is to maintain the competitiveness of local solutions and reduce dependence on global players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ECB also plans to set fees so they are lower for merchants than international card networks but higher than the cheapest domestic payment schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"aioseo-digitalni-euro-legislativni-podminka-a-harmonogram-17\">Digital Euro \u2013 Legislative Requirements and Timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The launch of the pilot in 2027 remains conditional on the adoption of necessary legislation during 2026. If the legislative process is completed successfully, testing of the digital euro could be the first step toward broader deployment, which the ECB is planning for around 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"aioseo-ctete-take-monero-kryptomena-ktera-chrani-vase-financni-soukromi\">Read Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/monero-cryptocurrency-that-protects-your-financial-privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Monero \u2013 Cryptocurrency That Protects Your Financial Privacy<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Digital Euro \u2013 The European Central Bank (ECB) is advancing preparations for the digital euro, with the project entering a new practical phase. According to Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB&#8217;s Executive Board, the bank will begin selecting payment service providers in the first quarter of 2026 who will participate in pilot testing of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[616,617],"class_list":["post-56681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crypto","tag-digital-euro","tag-euro"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"aioseo_meta":{"seo_title":"Digital Euro Takes Shape: ECB Partner Selection Begins 2026","meta_description":"Digital Euro \u2013 The European Central Bank (ECB) is advancing preparations for the digital euro, with the project entering a new practical phase. According to...","focus_keyword":"Digital Euro"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56681"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56689,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56681\/revisions\/56689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-globe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}