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What do people think about a digital Euro?
What are the opinions of European citizens on a digital Euro? The picture offered by the European Central Bank public consultation sheds some light.
The Eurosystem, which comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States., has recently published the results of a consultation, that ended in January 2021, asking for European citizens and companies to provide their views and opinions on the benefits and challenges regarding the introduction of a digital Euro. These results will serve as an input for the ECB’s future decisions on the matter.
What are the main characteristics that citizens require to take into account for the introduction and design of a digital Euro?
Privacy has emerged as the most important feature, for both citizens and professionals, with 43% of respondents giving it the top rank in terms of relevance. The Eurosystem proposes two different types of digital Euro. The first one has only an offline nature, in order to respect privacy to the highest possible degree. The second possibility entails a hybrid nature, both offline and online, with innovative characteristics and additional services. In this case preferences diverge slightly between citizens and professionals, with the former supporting an offline-only Euro and the latter choosing a hybrid one.
In addition, respondents focused their attention on two further challenges: making the digital Euro an accessible and practical payment method and allowing it to function correctly in areas with low...
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