"From physical cash to digital currency: the digital euro revolution"

Abstract

The lack of a widely available and usable form of central bank money that is technologically adapted to the digital age could decrease confidence in commercial bank money and ultimately in the euro itself. Confidence in commercial bank money is based on the ability of depositors to convert their deposits at par into legal tender central bank money, currently available only in the form of cash. The lack of a form of central bank money that can be used in the digital economy and converted at par with commercial bank deposits may undermine the monetary anchor role of central bank money, weakening financial stability and monetary sovereignty in the EU.