ECB's Cipollone sets out digital euro and tokenised settlement strategy

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said on 6 October that the bank is preparing a digital euro for everyday payments across the euro area, alongside the Pontes and Appia projects to settle tokenised wholesale transactions in central bank money. He argued Europe relies too heavily on foreign card schemes and that a pan-European legal-tender payment layer would restore monetary sovereignty, with holding limits and no interest. The move shows Europe building its own centrally issued digital payment infrastructure, a structural step toward unified economic authority. It remains subject to legislation and is not itself enforced participation.