ECB Official Warns of Euro Area Fragmentation Without Digital Euro - KuCoin

A senior European Central Bank (ECB) executive has warned that the digital-euro project could be undermined if other payment providers build competing tokenized payment rails before the central bank launches its own pan-European solution. In remarks delivered on an MNI Connect Webcast, ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone argued that the absence of a widely interoperable digital euro risks intensifying fragmentation across tokenization platforms—potentially weakening Europe’s “resilience and monetary sovereignty.” While the ECB has not yet decided whether to issue a digital euro, Cipollone said the central bank intends to wrap up the legislative process by the end of 2026.