Official From ECB Says Digital Euro Offers Higher Level of Privacy than Private Stablecoins

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According to Fabio Panetta, member of the European Central Bank (ECB), a potencial digital euro issued by the European Central Bank would offer a higher level of privacy to users than stablecoins issued by private companies, the Financial Times reports.

The ECB official claims that private companies monetize the private information they collect from the users of their stablecoins, while the ECB has “no commercial interest” in doing so.

He has added that the central bank has already carried out multiple tests of the digital version of the euro in which the information of the users has been kept private. He said:

“[We have been testing] offline payments for small amounts, in which no data is recorded outside the wallets of payer and payee.”

The central bank official has added that if the institution ends up launching the digital euro, the privacy of users will be a key element of the currency. According to him, “the payment will go through, but nobody in the payment chain would have access to all the information.”

The statements shared by Panetta come following a public consultation made by the ECB whose results have shown that users are concerned about their privacy when using potential central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).