Latest news with #ECB-guaranteed
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. policy on stablecoins more dangerous than tariffs, Italian minister says
By Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - U.S. policy on stablecoins offers European citizens an attractive payment method for cross-border transactions which should trigger more concern than trade tariffs, Italy's economy minister said on Tuesday. Addressing an event in Milan on asset management, Giancarlo Giorgetti said European Union authorities should adopt further steps to boost the status of the euro as an international reference currency and complained about the fragmentation of the EU's payment industry. U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to overhaul rules on cryptocurrencies and reverse a crackdown on the sector that took place under his predecessor Joe Biden. Dollar-pegged stablecoins, which are a type of cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a constant value, have ballooned in recent years. They now act as a key cog in the multi-trillion dollar crypto trading industry, helping move funds between different cryptocurrencies or into regular cash. "The general focus these days is on the impact of trade tariffs. However, even more dangerous is the new U.S. policy on cryptocurrencies and in particular that on dollar-denominated stablecoins," Giorgetti said. The minister argued that stablecoins would give savers the opportunity to invest in risk-free assets and a widely accepted means of payment for cross-border transactions, without any need for a banking account with U.S. banks. "It is therefore easy to foresee their attractiveness for citizens of economies with unstable currencies, but its appeal for people of the euro zone should not be underestimated," Giorgetti said. To promote European sovereignty in payments and protect the role of fiat currencies against the spread of stablecoins, the European Central Bank (ECB) is working on the so-called digital euro. The project envisages EU residents having digital euro accounts with the ECB which they can use for online payments or in shop, or to exchange money with friends thanks to the ECB partnering with EU-based payment services providers. "The digital euro will be essential to minimise the need for European citizens to resort to foreign solutions to access such a basic service as payment," Giorgetti said. European banks have expressed concerns that a digital euro would empty their coffers as customers transfer some of their cash to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
U.S. policy on stablecoins more dangerous than tariffs, Italian minister says
ROME, April 15 (Reuters) - U.S. policy on stablecoins offers European citizens an attractive payment method for cross-border transactions which should trigger more concern than trade tariffs, Italy's economy minister said on Tuesday. Addressing an event in Milan on asset management, Giancarlo Giorgetti said European Union authorities should adopt further steps to boost the status of the euro as an international reference currency and complained about the fragmentation of the EU's payment industry. U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to overhaul rules on cryptocurrencies and reverse a crackdown on the sector that took place under his predecessor Joe Biden. Dollar-pegged stablecoins, which are a type of cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a constant value, have ballooned in recent years. They now act as a key cog in the multi-trillion dollar crypto trading industry, helping move funds between different cryptocurrencies or into regular cash. "The general focus these days is on the impact of trade tariffs. However, even more dangerous is the new U.S. policy on cryptocurrencies and in particular that on dollar-denominated stablecoins," Giorgetti said. The minister argued that stablecoins would give savers the opportunity to invest in risk-free assets and a widely accepted means of payment for cross-border transactions, without any need for a banking account with U.S. banks. "It is therefore easy to foresee their attractiveness for citizens of economies with unstable currencies, but its appeal for people of the euro zone should not be underestimated," Giorgetti said. To promote European sovereignty in payments and protect the role of fiat currencies against the spread of stablecoins, the European Central Bank (ECB) is working on the so-called digital euro. The project envisages EU residents having digital euro accounts with the ECB which they can use for online payments or in shop, or to exchange money with friends thanks to the ECB partnering with EU-based payment services providers. "The digital euro will be essential to minimise the need for European citizens to resort to foreign solutions to access such a basic service as payment," Giorgetti said. European banks have expressed concerns that a digital euro would empty their coffers as customers transfer some of their cash to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet.
Reuters
10-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU lawmakers voice doubts about digital euro after ECB outage
FRANKFURT, March 10 (Reuters) - European lawmakers are voicing fresh doubt about the European Central Bank's digital euro project after an outage in the ECB's existing payment system caused delays for thousands of households and traders. The breakdown in the Target 2 (T2) payment system late last month meant banks could not settle transactions with each other for the better part of a day, partly due to an initial, wrong diagnosis of the issue by central bank technicians. Representatives from four of the eight groups that make up the European Parliament said the incident raised some questions about the ECB's ability to deliver on its digital euro project, a new payment system open to all euro zone residents. "This instance is a blow to the ECB's credibility," said Markus Ferber of the European People's Party, the largest group in the current parliament. "People will ask legitimate questions how the ECB will be able to run a digital euro when they cannot even keep their day-to-day operations running smoothly." An ECB official said a digital euro would be more similar to its instant payment system TIPS, which is also 24/7 and handles millions of small payments every day, than to T2, which settles fewer but bigger transactions, and the former has been extremely reliable. Indeed TIPS only suffered minor delays on the day of the outage. But resistance from lawmakers may still prove a hurdle for the ECB, which needs them to pass legislation laying the ground for the digital euro. The European Commission proposed digital euro legislation in June 2023 but not much has happened since amid scepticism from some lawmakers and bankers. Rasmus Andresen, a Green politician who like Ferber sits on the parliamentary committee that oversees the ECB, said the central bank had to restore citizens' trust or the digital euro may be "at risk of failure". Jussi Saramo, of The Left, still backs the launch of a digital euro but stressed "the need for the ECB to improve its own systems". Their colleague Johan Van Overtveldt, from the eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Group, said "the ECB should prove that it can maintain uninterrupted and secure financial infrastructure" before moving on with the digital euro. This would essentially be an electronic wallet guaranteed by the central bank, which would also provide the infrastructure. It would be distributed by companies such as banks or wallet providers. The ECB has pitched it in part as a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's push to promote stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar and increasingly used as a form of digital payment. But bankers have mostly been sceptical, fearing that it would empty their coffers as customers transfer some of their cash to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet. The ECB hopes legislation will be in place by the autumn so it can vote to officially launch the project.
Emirates 24/7
06-02-2025
- Business
- Emirates 24/7
ECB hopes Trump's crypto plan will speed up digital euro
The European Central Bank hopes U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to support cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar will speed up legislative backing for the digital euro, ECB board member Piero Cipollone told Reuters. The ECB has presented its digital currency - essentially an online wallet guaranteed by the central bank - in part as an electronic means of payment that does not rely on dominant U.S. providers such as Visa and PayPal. Cipollone said Trump's support for globally available stablecoins tied to the dollar would help create yet another U.S.-made payment tool and added urgency to the digital euro project. The European Commission proposed digital euro legislation in June 2023 but not much has happened since amid scepticism from some lawmakers and bankers. "The political world is becoming more alert to this," Cipollone said in an interview on Wednesday. "And it's possible that we will see an acceleration in the process." Cipollone hoped the EU's Parliament and Council would wrap up work on the digital euro legislation before the summer, paving the way for negotiations with the Commission. This would leave room for the new rules to be finalised by November, when ECB policymakers are set to vote on whether or not to launch the digital currency. "Political processes are complex and there are many things on the table," Cipollone said. "Obviously the sooner the better, but we fully understand their needs." Asked by Reuters about this timeline, EU lawmaker Markus Ferber said Parliament may at best have a report ready by the summer. Like money market funds, stablecoins offer exposure to short-term interest rates in an official currency but they can also be used to make payments. Cipollone said the spread of U.S. stablecoins as a means of payment was "worrisome" because it threatened to divert deposits away from European banks. "If people in Europe start to use stablecoins to pay, given that most of them are American and dollar-based, they will be transferring their deposits from Europe to the United States," he said. Bankers fear a digital euro would equally empty their coffers as customers transfer some of their cash to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet. To address these concerns, the ECB said holdings would likely be capped at a few thousand euros and not remunerated. Nigeria, Jamaica and the Bahamas have already launched central bank digital currency (CBDC) and a further 44 countries, including Russia, China, Australia and Brazil are running pilots, according to the Atlantic Council think tank. Trump, by contrast, prohibited the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing its own CBDC. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ECB hopes Trump's crypto plan will speed up digital euro
By Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank hopes U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to support cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar will speed up legislative backing for the digital euro, ECB board member Piero Cipollone told Reuters. The ECB has presented its digital currency - essentially an online wallet guaranteed by the central bank - in part as an electronic means of payment that does not rely on dominant U.S. providers such as Visa and PayPal. Cipollone said Trump's support for globally available stablecoins tied to the dollar would help create yet another U.S.-made payment tool and added urgency to the digital euro project. The European Commission proposed digital euro legislation in June 2023 but not much has happened since amid scepticism from some lawmakers and bankers. "The political world is becoming more alert to this," Cipollone said in an interview on Wednesday. "And it's possible that we will see an acceleration in the process." Cipollone hoped the EU's Parliament and Council would wrap up work on the digital euro legislation before the summer, paving the way for negotiations with the Commission. This would leave room for the new rules to be finalised by November, when ECB policymakers are set to vote on whether or not to launch the digital currency. "Political processes are complex and there are many things on the table," Cipollone said. "Obviously the sooner the better, but we fully understand their needs." Asked by Reuters about this timeline, EU lawmaker Markus Ferber said Parliament may at best have a report ready by the summer. Like money market funds, stablecoins offer exposure to short-term interest rates in an official currency but they can also be used to make payments. Cipollone said the spread of U.S. stablecoins as a means of payment was "worrisome" because it threatened to divert deposits away from European banks. "If people in Europe start to use stablecoins to pay, given that most of them are American and dollar-based, they will be transferring their deposits from Europe to the United States," he said. Bankers fear a digital euro would equally empty their coffers as customers transfer some of their cash to the safety of an ECB-guaranteed wallet. To address these concerns, the ECB said holdings would likely be capped at a few thousand euros and not remunerated. Nigeria, Jamaica and the Bahamas have already launched central bank digital currency (CBDC) and a further 44 countries, including Russia, China, Australia and Brazil are running pilots, according to the Atlantic Council think tank. Trump, by contrast, prohibited the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing its own CBDC. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
