Brussels and Frankfurt accelerate: after the approval of the US law on Stablecoin, the European Union re -evaluates the strategy on the digital euro and considers the use of public blockchains to counter the domain of the dollar.
Last month the United States Congress approved the Genius Act, a law that regulates the Stablecoin market, a sector assessed $ 288 billion and largely dominated by tokens anchored to the dollar as a Tother and USDC USDT of Circle.
The US push on the Stablecoin
These digital currencies, guaranteed by reserves in government bonds and connected one by one to the dollar, have consolidated the role of American currency also in the crypt ecosystem, moving the axis of digital payments increasingly towards Washington.
According to the Financial Timesthe situation triggered the alarm in Brussels and Frankfurt: if Europe does not accelerate on the digital euro front, the risk is that cross -border payments end up under the hegemony of the digital dollar in a private but regulated version.
The EU to the digital euro
The European Union has been working on the project of a European Currency (CBDC) European Central Bank for years, a digital version of the euro accessible free of charge to citizens and companies in the Eurozone. Until a few months ago, the direction appeared Chiara: a centralized solution, based on private and controlled infrastructures, with the aim of guaranteeing privacy and safety.
The genius act, however, changed the picture. A source involved in the discussions, mentioned by Ftrevealed that European officials are “reconsidering the plans for the digital euro” with greater urgency. On the table there is the hypothesis of adopting public blockchains such as Ethereum or Solana, abandoning the original setting.
The turning point towards public blockchains would represent a significant compromise. If on the one hand the risks related to privacy and centralized control increase, on the other a digital euro based on open technologies would be more competitive than US private Stablecoins and would favor a wider global circulation.
The European dilemma is evident: keeping the “Chinese” model, that is, a digital token strictly managed by the central bank, or approach the American model, where private actors guide innovation, with the support of a clear regulatory frame.
The European Central Bank reiterated that it is evaluating different technologies, both centralized and decentralized, including those of distributed register, without having still made a definitive decision. Behind the official prudence, however, the growing political pressure is hidden: several European governments see in the digital euro a bulwark of economic sovereignty, necessary not to suffer the American and Chinese advance in the digital currency sector.
The race for digital currencies is not only a matter of technological innovation, but a geopolitical competition ground.
The United States consolidate the domain of the dollar through regulated Stablecoins, with the aim of extending their influence even in crypt payments. For years China has been experimenting with digital yuan, based on a centralized and controlled model by the state.
Europe, so far remained in a waiting position, is now pushed to define a “third way”: to combine decentralization and monetary sovereignty, while offering a credible tool to citizens and businesses.
Advantages and risks of the digital euro
A competitive digital euro could strengthen European strategic autonomy ensuring:
- Sovereign alternative to payments based on dollar or yuan;
- greater financial inclusion thanks to direct access to digital systems;
- Reduction of dependence on American payment infrastructures.
At the same time, complex knots remain:
- the governance of the network;
- Privacy protection;
- the prevention of illegal uses and the stability of the traditional banking system.
