The Central Bank of Russia stated that a CBDC should get classified as legal tender. If the digital euro becomes legal, it will gain more advantage over other forms of electronic payments.
The Italian economist and member of the board of directors of the European Central Bank (ECB), Fabio Panetta, clarified that the legal tender status of the digital euro, which is the central bank digital currency initiative (CBDC), should not get assumed as a fact without questioning it.
According to Bloomberg, if the digital euro becomes legal tender, it will have a favorable advantage over other electronic methods of payments in Europe, which remain unrecognized as legal tender and are not constantly available to customers as a payment method.
Indeed, if the Central Bank manages to make its digital euro profitable, as well as widely usable, there would be space for more widespread adoption among Europeans.
Panetta had already rejected comments that the digital euro would be a redundant project among the other virtual initiatives that exist and are tools on that continent. In their view, the ECB will ensure that it is ‘attractive enough’ to promote its use.
In the same round, the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Nabiúllina, stated that a digital currency must have the basis of legal tender, that is, a mandatory basis for merchants.
According to the governor of the Central Bank, there must be a perfect conversion between the forms of money, a situation that could be crucial for the confidence the society needs to trust in this type of money.
Two Years to Understand the Digital Euro
The digital euro is an advanced plan in that continent. At least 30 experts will bring technical advice and support to the BDE for its launch since the institution will study for up to two years everything related to a CBDC.
According to various reports, the BDE has already appointed the members of the Market Advisory Group, where professionals with extensive knowledge of the retail payments market would act in a personal capacity from an industrial perspective.
The ECB detailed that, in the group, there will be room for a representative of the European Commission (EC) and representatives of the national central banks of the Eurosystem. They will meet at least quarterly, beginning their meetings in November.
One of the Many CBDC
The digital euro, which is a project in full swing, is not the only digital currency lingering around Europe. It is just one of many other currencies out there. In the Bahamas, there is already one, fully operating, called Sand Dollar.
In the Caribbean, many cities already have a CBDC named DCash. And Switzerland, for its part, is studying e-krona.
This situation denotes the movement of the European bloc and the entire world, focused on accepting new technologies to commercialize. But, at the same time, it is an attempt to stop the growth of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin (BTC), which is increasingly gaining more ground in the world economy.
By: Jenson Nuñez
