First Eurozone Country to Test Its Own Digital Currency in 2020

December 4, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

France wants to be the first country in the Eurozone to test a digital currency. It should be suitable for the transfer of very large amounts, as the head of the French central bank said.

China is reportedly on the verge of starting its own official digital currency, now France also wants to push appropriate tests. From 2020, a suitable cryptocurrency for the transfer of very large amounts will be tested, as announced by the Governor of the central bank Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, on Wednesday. Moreover, the French central bank also wants to support studies for a digital euro, writes the Austrian portal the Futurezone.

Following the continued success of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the planned digital currency Libra of the US social media group Facebook has recently been the main driver for the acceleration of ideas for digital currency in the Eurozone. In addition, digital currency advocates see faster transactions at a lower cost.

Only a few weeks ago, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire criticized Libra at an OECD conference and said that the Facebook currency should not be allowed on European soil. A means of payment in the hands of a private company could cause “significant disruptions in the financial system”. The German government is also critical to Libra. Le Maire had demanded a kind of public digital currency.

As early as the beginning of November, the European Central Bank had become aware of competition with its own digital currency. At the beginning of this week, the German Trade Association (HDE) and the Federal Association of Service Providers for Online Providers (BDOA) once again called for the introduction of a state-owned digital euro in advance of the meeting of EU finance ministers on Thursday. According to the associations, businesses need independent alternatives to global payment systems in an increasingly digital world.

Author: Marko Vidrih