ECB Executive Board Member Cipollone Discusses Digital Euro and Future of Money in Digital Age

Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), delivered a speech on October 13, 2026, addressing the evolving landscape of money in the digital age, including the digital euro and tokenization. Cipollone emphasized the central bank's mandate to issue money and safeguard its value amidst increasing digital payments and financial institutions experimenting with distributed ledger technology. He highlighted the opportunities for more convenient payments and efficient finance, but also warned of risks such as the potential decline of public money's role and increased fragmentation if tokenized finance develops on closed, incompatible platforms. The ECB aims to be ready for a potential first issuance of a digital euro in 2029, assuming legislative processes conclude by the end of 2026.