Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank Burkhard Balz (pictured) spoke about the planned digital euro and its role alongside cash at the ESTA Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Berlin on Monday. Balz said the digital euro is "not designed as a replacement for the cash cycle" but as a complement to it. He stressed that people should keep the freedom to choose how they pay. He also recalled the idea that "banknotes, in their own way, are a physical manifestation of the social contract that is money." Balz added that cash and the digital euro are both public money and should exist together in the ... (full story)