EU considers issuing public digital currency to combat Facebook’s Libra project

In the face of the threat that Facebook will launch the cryptocurrency Libra, the EU institutions have proposed a strategy to their own people: to issue a common digital currency across the region.

A draft EU document prepared by Finland, the current EU presidency, believed that the European Central Bank should issue a public digital currency. The draft urges the EU to develop a common way of dealing with cryptocurrencies. “The ECB and other EU central banks could usefully explore the opportunities as well as challenges of issuing central bank digital currencies including by considering concrete steps to this effect.”

On Friday, EU finance ministers may discuss the above draft text in order to adopt such content at their next meeting on December 5 this year. According to the media, a European Central Bank official said that public digital currency projects may allow consumers to use electronic cash, which can exist directly in the European Central Bank, without bank accounts, financial intermediation and liquidation of counterparties.

Via: Reuters