Author: William Torsney

France and Germany have called on the European Commission to launch a sweeping simplification of EU financial services rules, arguing that regulatory complexity is weighing on banks, fintechs and Europe’s broader competitiveness. In a joint letter seen by Reuters, the two countries urged Brussels to review the entire framework of EU financial market legislation, signalling potential changes that could reshape the operating environment for financial institutions across the euro area. The letter, sent to Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque and dated Friday, proposes a comprehensive “Financial Services Simplification Package” aimed at making rules easier to navigate while preserving financial…

The digital euro will not replace cash and will be accompanied by a legal obligation for retailers to accept banknotes and coins, according to Burkhard Balz, the Bundesbank board member responsible for the project. In a wide-ranging interview, Balz framed the digital euro as a strategic response to Europe’s growing dependence on US payment firms, rather than a step towards a cashless society. Balz, who sits on the board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, said the EU’s proposed Single Currency Package would strengthen cash’s status as legal tender at the same time as creating a legal basis for a digital euro.…

A pilot project involving Siemens, Accenture, and the European Central Bank is providing one of the clearest illustrations yet of how a future digital euro could support automated business-to-business payments tied directly to real industrial processes. The experiment, conducted under the ECB’s digital euro Innovation programme, explored how machines can trigger payments automatically as production and logistics milestones are reached, without turning money itself into a fully programmable asset. The approach is best understood as a sequence of machine-verified events, each linked to a conditional payment step, rather than a traditional invoice settled after delivery. The logic of the pilot…

The European Central Bank has agreed to accept certain distributed ledger technology (DLT) based securities as eligible collateral in Eurosystem credit operations from 30 March 2026, opening the door for tokenised assets to be used more directly within the euro area’s core monetary framework. The decision applies to marketable assets issued through central securities depositories using DLT-based services and signals a pragmatic shift toward accommodating digital market infrastructure without weakening existing safeguards. Under the new framework, DLT-issued securities will be treated like any other eligible marketable asset, provided they meet established Eurosystem collateral eligibility and risk management criteria. This includes…

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, debates about stablecoins and private digital money moved firmly into the political mainstream. While the digital euro was not the subject of a standalone announcement, the tone and content of the discussions highlighted why the European Central Bank considers a public digital currency increasingly important for Europe’s monetary future. Panels and side events at Davos were dominated by the rapid rise of dollar-denominated stablecoins and their growing role in global payments and capital markets. Industry leaders, including Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong, argued that blockchain-based money could increasingly challenge traditional…

The European Central Bank has set out detailed plans for a real-world digital euro pilot that will run for 12 months from the second half of 2027, marking a significant step from conceptual design toward technical and operational readiness. The pilot, presented during a digital euro focus session hosted by the European Central Bank, will involve real transactions by Eurosystem staff and selected merchants, while remaining dependent on the outcome of EU legislation. According to ECB officials, the pilot is intended to validate both the functional design and the underlying infrastructure of a potential digital euro before any broader rollout.…

Bitcoin activity in Iran is rising sharply as protests and a collapsing currency push citizens toward alternative forms of money. Blockchain data shows that the country’s crypto market reached an estimated $7.8 billion in 2025, with a noticeable surge in Bitcoin withdrawals from exchanges during recent unrest. According to Chainalysis, users are increasingly moving Bitcoin into private wallets rather than leaving funds on centralized platforms. This shift toward self-custody is often seen during periods of political instability or capital controls, when access to banks and exchanges can no longer be taken for granted. The trend coincides with renewed pressure on…

Societe Generale’s digital asset subsidiary SG-FORGE and Swift have completed a landmark pilot demonstrating the exchange and settlement of tokenised bonds using both fiat money and a regulated euro stablecoin. The initiative matters for Europe because it shows how tokenised capital markets could scale without abandoning existing payment infrastructure, a core concern for regulators, banks, and the European Central Bank as digital finance moves closer to production use. According to a joint press release dated 15 January 2026, the project successfully settled tokenised bonds using EUR CoinVertible, the euro-denominated stablecoin issued by Societe Generale-FORGE. SG-FORGE says EUR CoinVertible is the…

Kazakhstan’s plans for a central bank digital currency have reached a critical decision point, with the International Monetary Fund warning that legal certainty and tighter risk management must come before any large-scale rollout. In a high-level technical assistance report published in January, the IMF says the Digital Tenge project has made rapid technical progress but still lacks the legal and institutional foundations required for safe, long-term operation. The assessment, based on IMF missions to Astana and Almaty in mid-2024, reflects a pattern familiar to European policymakers. Like the euro area’s digital euro debate, Kazakhstan’s experience shows that CBDC design is…

Russian legislators have drafted a new bill that would remove special financial regulation for cryptocurrencies and significantly broaden access for retail investors, the head of the State Duma’s financial markets committee said, in a move that could reshape how digital assets are treated in the country and influence wider crypto policy debates. Speaking to reporters, Anatoly Aksakov confirmed that the draft legislation has been prepared for the upcoming spring session of Parliament. The core aim is to take cryptocurrencies out of the strict regulatory framework that currently governs financial instruments, effectively treating them more like everyday digital commodities than tightly…