Progress on the investigation phase of a digital euro – fourth report
The European Central Bank (ECB) published a digital euro project update. It was made clear that a digital euro will offer basic services free of charge. To foster network effects, intermediaries will be compensated for the services they provide, as they are for comparable electronic payments, while legislative safeguards will prevent merchants from being overcharged by intermediaries. The Eurosystem would bear its own costs, as it does for banknotes. Also, online and offline functionalities will be released simultaneously from the outset. Offline functionality will settle transactions using “secure hardware” to avoid hacking and forging, transactions will be settled immediately between devices, payments received will be transferable to another device without first connecting to the internet, and the Eurosystem will not see users’ personal details or their payment patterns.
