I can’t believe they won’t just use Bitcoin. If the EU weighs in then Bitcoin would probably get much more stable through sheer inertia. “But then they won’t be able to control it” I hear you say. Good, Bitcoin not being able to be diluted by any one government to try and tamper with the economy is one of its upsides. Slower economic growth is a perfectly fine tradeoff for not having 10% inflation year over year like we have the last few years and economists are basically the modern version of oracular priests reading the stars and just as reliable.

This means that the role of commercial banks is not canceled with the launch of the single digital currency, but they will still be an important part of the ecosystem.

[…] a ceiling on the liquidity that citizens will be able to maintain in digital euro, in the order of 2,000 or 3,000 euros per user. The goal is for the digital euro to be used purely as a means of exchange and not as a means of accumulating wealth.

The benefits of the digital euro include the immediacy and security of transactions – […] instant payments […] made in a few seconds

A very important advantage of the digital euro is also the zero cost of its use, putting an end to the – harsh in some cases – commissions that banks currently impose on direct payments

Maybe I’m talking from a privileged country, but none of this would benefit me at all in my country as the banking system already does all of this. It’s a bit disappointing that they seem to be intentionally kneecapping the digital euro so that they can placate private banks. Although I wouldn’t mind what they’re doing if they also provided a government run bank that didn’t shoo away customers if they didn’t have the right risk profile, that competed with private banks (e.g. Norway’s state-run consumer bank exists alongside private ones). For example, legal sex workers are often pushed out by private banks.