Central Bank Digital Currency

European Central Bank officials are pushing back against fears that the digital euro could become a surveillance tool, arguing that the Eurosystem would be unable to connect users with their purchases. Civil society groups remain unconvinced, warning that privacy promises must be backed by technical safeguards rather than institutional assurances alone.

The Bank of Korea is preparing to move its central bank digital currency pilot into live transaction testing in September with nine major lenders. The project will use central bank infrastructure while commercial banks issue and manage deposit tokens, marking a key step toward a possible digital won framework.

The European Central Bank has selected 36 banks and payment companies for a 12-month digital euro pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027. The trial will test a beta version of the proposed central bank digital currency across online, offline, in-store and e-commerce payments using ECB and national central bank staff as users.

A bipartisan U.S. housing-affordability bill is set to become law at midnight, bringing with it a temporary restriction on a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency. The provision blocks a U.S. digital dollar for four years, even as the central bank had not been moving toward issuing one.