Despite lacking awareness and understanding, half of the respondents from Germany indicated a willingness to consider using the digital euro as an additional payment option. A recent survey conducted by Deutsche Bundesbank involving 2,012 participants found that 50% stated they could "definitely" or "probably" envision using the European Central Bank's (ECB) pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital euro.
However, the survey also revealed that many respondents were unfamiliar with the digital euro. Three out of five participants admitted to never having heard, read, or seen anything about the digital euro.
Germans Are Not Aware of What a Digital Euro Is
Of those who knew a little bit about it, almost 25% said they had no idea what it was, and 16% thought it was a cryptocurrency.
Moreover, over thirty percent thought that the digital euro was intended to replace cash or do away with it completely if it were introduced.
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel stressed the importance of expanding public knowledge, saying that the survey confirmed the need to give the public more information about the digital euro.
Additionally, the poll clarified the main issues and demands of prospective consumers of digital euros. More than 75% of respondents rated privacy as "very important" or "important," making it the top worry.
Additionally, over 70% of participants indicated that they strongly preferred the digital euro to be backed by European infrastructure and issued by the government, much like currency, with the capacity to enable offline payments (over 60%).
Concerning privacy, Nagel reassured the public by saying that the central banks of the Eurosystem had no interest in user data.
He went on to say that the digital euro would provide better privacy protection than current commercial payment systems.
According to the ECB, the digital euro can be used offline and that only the payer and the payee would know the specifics of the transaction, guaranteeing a certain amount of privacy.
Phase of Preparation for Digital Euro
The digital euro is currently in the planning stages, with completion expected in October 2025.
Finalizing the rules and locating possible issuers are the main goals of this phase.
The European Commission filed a draft regulation in June of last year that included safeguards for cash use as well as a legal foundation for the digital euro.
The digital euro project is overseen by Burkhard Balz, a board member of the Bundesbank, and current plans call for the prospect of people making their first digital euro payments no sooner than 2028.
Ninety-eight percent of the world's GDP, or 130 countries, are presently investigating CBDCs, with 19 of the G20 nations having reached an advanced stage of CBDC development, according to the CBDC tracker maintained by the Atlantic Council.
June 2024, Cryptoniteuae