ECB Official Claims Digital Euro Offers Superior Privacy Compared to Bank Transfers

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated that the digital euro will provide stronger privacy protections than standard bank transfers. He explained that the Eurosystem cannot link specific individuals to their digital euro transactions. Offline payments will function like cash, while online transactions will only identify users to banks for anti-money laundering purposes. Cipollone dismissed concerns that the digital euro would replace physical cash, noting that the ECB is currently designing new banknotes.