European Central Bank appoints 30 members to digital euro advisory group
The European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed 30 members to its new "Digital Euro Market Advisory Group."
The members will advise the Eurosystem on designing and distributing a potential digital euro, a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Eurosystem is the monetary authority of the euro area and comprises the ECB and the national central banks of the member states that use the euro.
The ECB launched the digital euro project in July in an investigation phase. At the time, it said a market advisory group will consider prospective users' and distributors' views on a digital euro.
Now that the group has been put in place, quarterly meetings will be held starting next month, and written consultations will be organized between sessions. The group includes senior business professionals from organizations such as BBVA, Deutsche Bank AG, Société Générale, European Payments Council, Stripe, and IKEA.
BBVA's head of payments discipline Antonio Macías Vecino, Deutsche Bank's managing director and global head of asset platforms Jochen Siegert, Société Générale's open banking director Yves Blavet, and Stripe's head of payment engineering of EMEA payments Sean Mullaney are representing the group, among other professionals.
The investigation phase will last 24 months, and it aims to address key issues regarding the design and distribution of a digital euro.
The ECB has yet to decide whether it will issue a digital euro. The central bank has said if it does, then the digital euro would complement cash and not replace it.
