Digital Euro Progress Update - ECB Executive Board Speech
Summary
ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone testified before the European Parliament on March 24, 2026, providing an update on digital euro preparations. He confirmed euro area leaders reiterated support for the initiative aimed at strengthening monetary sovereignty, reducing retail payment fragmentation, and supporting the Single Market. The Eurosystem continues technical readiness work, with Pontes (DLT settlement solution) scheduled for Q3 2026 launch and the Appia roadmap for integrated European digital asset markets published.
What changed
ECB Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone provided a status update on the digital euro initiative to the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Key updates include confirmation that euro area leaders remain committed to the project for monetary sovereignty and Single Market resilience, that technical preparations continue under the Eurosystem, and that formal issuance awaits enabling legislation. Two infrastructure developments were announced: Pontes, the DLT-based central bank money settlement solution, is slated for Q3 2026 launch; and the Appia roadmap for a European digital asset market was published in April 2026.
For payment service providers, financial institutions, and technology companies operating in the euro area, this speech signals continued momentum toward a potential digital euro launch. While no binding timeline exists pending legislation, the infrastructure foundations are being laid. Entities should monitor legislative progress, evaluate existing payment infrastructure for compatibility, and assess potential impacts on commercial banking relationships and payment processing roles under a digital euro framework.
What to do next
- Monitor ECB digital euro legislative developments
- Track Pontes DLT solution launch timeline for Q3 2026
- Review Appia roadmap for digital asset integration opportunities
Archived snapshot
Apr 9, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Piero Cipollone: The digital euro - preparing for a potential launch
Introductory statement by Mr Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Brussels, 24 March 2026.
Central bank speech | 09 April 2026 by Piero Cipollone PDF full text (181kb) | 9
pages Thank you for this opportunity to provide an update on the digital euro and answer your questions.
Last week, the leaders of the euro area reaffirmed, once again, the vital importance of advancing this initiative. And your recent resolution on the ECB's Annual Report underlined how this project is essential to strengthening EU monetary sovereignty, reducing fragmentation in retail payments and supporting the integrity and resilience of the Single Market.
The Eurosystem – for its part – is continuing its technical preparations to ensure we are ready to deliver a digital euro that works everywhere in the euro area, for all use cases. We will only consider issuing the digital euro once the legislation is in place and we would issue it in full compliance with the legislation.
In parallel – and with the same determination – we are also ensuring that central bank money retains its role as the anchor in tomorrow's wholesale financial markets. Pontes – the Eurosystem's DLT solution – will be launched in the third quarter of 2026 to enable central bank money settlement for DLT-based transactions. And earlier this month we published a roadmap for Appia, an initiative to build an integrated European market for digital assets together with private and public stakeholders.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of the BIS. About the author Piero Cipollone More from this author
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