Italy’s Cipollone Defends Digital Euro as He Seeks ECB Role

Piero Cipollone defended plans for a integer euro during a Monday lawmaker hearing, arsenic the Italian cardinal banker seeks support to regenerate cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC) supremo Fabio Panetta astatine the European Central Bank (ECB).

Cipollone, who has been the Bank of Italy’s lawman politician since 2020, is the sole campaigner to regenerate crypto skeptic Panetta erstwhile helium steps down from the cardinal bank's enforcement committee successful November. Cipollone's Monday remarks suggest helium won’t stray acold from existing ECB integer currency policies.

A integer euro would “reinforce the quality to wage with nationalist wealth passim Europe with a exertion and infrastructure that is based successful Europe,” helium told members of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, promising offline functionality, accessibility and “excellent solutions” to support privacy.

Cipollone’s eight-year word has already been approved by eurozone concern ministers and the ECB itself, making his ascension to the presumption each but certain.

Panetta has antecedently railed against backstage crypto arsenic a greed-fueled Ponzi scheme and has besides led ECB enactment connected a integer euro, contempt important lawmaker skepticism astir the benefits of the task for retail users.

In a effect to an earlier written questionnaire from lawmakers, Cipollone said that blockchain innovations bring “significant risks,” but that the challenges of a CBDC for fiscal stableness and lending could beryllium managed done measures similar imposing holding limits connected citizens.