European Union Could Launch Digital Euro on Ethereum or Solana Blockchain: Report

The European Union (EU) is reportedly mulling over launching a digital version of the Euro on either the Ethereum (ETH) or Solana (SOL) blockchain.

According to a new report by the Financial Times (FT), anonymous people familiar with the matter say that EU officials are looking to speed up the launch of an official Euro-pegged stablecoin after the US passed regulations relating to dollar-pegged crypto assets earlier this year.

The sources say that since the US passed the GENIUS Act, EU officials have been “rethinking plans for the digital Euro,” including having it launch on a public blockchain Ethereum or Solana rather than on a private one as previously planned.

The sources go on to say that EU authorities are skeptical about public blockchains due to how transparent the transactions are; however, one of them noted their use was something being taken more seriously as of late.

In April, Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) executive board, said that the US making moves to promote stablecoins “raise[s] concerns for Europe’s financial stability and strategic autonomy,” according to FT.

Though a decision on the matter has yet to be made, the ECB told FT that both centralized and decentralized technologies are in the running.

Currently, the largest Euro-pegged stablecoin on the market is Euro Coin (EURC), issued by USDC issuer Circle, coming in at a market cap of $225.3 million at time of writing.