Thank you for inviting me to take part in this exchange of views. I would like to talk about why we need the digital euro – and the cost of not pursuing it. My message is simple. The main reason for issuing a digital euro is to preserve the benefits of cash in the digital era. To do so, we need to complement physical cash with a digital form of cash. The inability to use physical cash in online transactions or for digital payments at the point of sale deprives us of a key payment option, reducing resilience, competition, sovereignty and, ultimately, consumers’ freedom to choose how to pay. This increases the risks ... (full story)