Revolut Will Participate in Testing the Digital Euro
Nikolai Storonsky's fintech startup has been selected to participate in the ECB's pilot project
The British fintech startup Revolut, founded by Nikolai Storonsky, is among the 36 payment service providers selected by the European Central Bank (ECB) to participate in a pilot project to introduce the digital euro.
Details
In addition to Revolut, major banks such as UniCredit and Deutsche Bank are participating in the project—they were selected from among more than 50 applicants, according to the ECB’s statement. They will join the 12-month trial of the digital euro, which is set to begin in the second half of 2027. In total, organizations from 16 countries are participating in the experiment.
“The market’s strong interest in the experiment demonstrates the private sector’s willingness to actively participate in and rapidly advance the digital euro project in order to strengthen the European payment system,” said ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, who heads the relevant working group.
ECB staff and employees of the national central banks of all countries in the region, with the exception of Malta and Bulgaria, will participate in the testing. The plan is to use online stores, as well as cafes and restaurants operated by the central banks themselves, as payment venues.
Participants will make payments using a beta version of the digital euro, which is functionally and technically similar to the final version outlined in the bill. However, it will not yet have the status of legal tender.
These tests will be an important step for Europe toward reducing its dependence on the American giants Visa and Mastercard—which process the vast majority of card payments on the continent—as well as toward creating an alternative to dollar-pegged stablecoins, according to Bloomberg. The digital euro project itself was announced back in 2020, and its full launch is scheduled for 2029.
Context
The digital euro is just like a regular euro, except it’s held in a user’s digital wallet rather than a bank account. The ECB refers to it as the “electronic equivalent of cash.” It can be used to make payments both online and offline, via a smartphone with NFC or a card. A full-scale launch is planned for 2029.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
