On August 22, 2025, reports emerged that the European Central Bank (ECB) is actively exploring the feasibility of deploying its forthcoming digital euro on public blockchain networks, specifically Ethereum and Solana. The assessment represents a departure from traditional central bank digital currency (CBDC) prototypes based on private, permissioned ledgers, as seen in several pilot programs globally. Public blockchain models, by contrast, offer native tokenization frameworks, resilience through decentralization, and broad access via standard node implementations.
According to sources cited by the Financial Times, ECB policymakers are weighing the trade-offs between the privacy constraints and scalability guarantees provided by private systems versus the transparency and network effects inherent to public platforms. Ethereum’s extensive smart contract ecosystem and Solana’s high throughput capacity have emerged as leading candidates. The ECB’s digital euro task force is evaluating criteria including transaction finality times, cost per transaction, governance models, and alignment with EU regulatory requirements.
Regulatory and Technical Considerations
If a public blockchain is selected, the ECB would need to design technical interfaces that segregate user data from public nodes while maintaining compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and data protection laws. Privacy-preserving layer-2 solutions and zero-knowledge proof architectures are under review to balance confidentiality with auditability. Interoperability with existing eurozone payment rails and integration with commercial banking APIs will also be critical for mass adoption.
Strategic Implications
The move to a public blockchain model could strengthen the euro’s position in digital finance by leveraging network effects from decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, tokenized asset markets, and cross-border settlement channels. However, concerns remain about the potential for increased state influence over blockchain governance and systemic risk exposures tied to public network outages or consensus attacks.
A formal decision on the blockchain framework is expected by the end of 2025, as the ECB prepares a second digital euro pilot phase. Outcomes from this evaluation will likely influence global central banks’ approaches to CBDCs, fueling debates on the optimal balance between innovation, security, and monetary sovereignty in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
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