The European Central Bank (ECB) issued a request for "experts with experience" to apply yesterday with the intention of having them serve as volunteers on the group that will craft the regulatory code for the digital Euro system.

Candidates have until January 20 to submit a resume and responses to the five "justify credentials" questions posed by the group's executives.

The chosen individuals will join the Euro Digital Scheme Rulebook Development Group, tasked with creating the guidelines under which this asset can be traded and spent across Europe.

According to an ECB announcement, the development team working on the guidelines for the use of the digital euro will go to work on those guidelines on February 23.

The group's responsibilities include gathering market data and offering a sectoral view of the Eurosystem, as well as aiding in the development of a regulatory framework for the digital Euro. Christian Schäfer, manager of CBDC regulation, is in charge of coordinating all of this.

The building of the digital Euro is well underway...

The ECB has stated that the development group will include of market representatives with relevant experience as well as officials from the Eurosystem.

Payment service providers, banking industry members, and payment institutions/electronic money institutions will be chosen to offer the system. Consumers, brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce sites, large and small businesses, and other organizations will all be represented on the demand side.

The distribution and implementation of this CBDC are still the subject of ongoing investigation by experts. Nonetheless, the ECB stated in its December report that the digital euro will be an asset that can only be handled and maintained by "supervised intermediaries" that will operate similarly to existing bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Upgrade Nobody Wants...

Europeans have spoken, and they do not support the European Central Bank's plan to issue a digital euro. On the other hand, the bank sees the creation of the digital euro as imperative. It claims that the euro could lose "its position as Europe's monetary anchor" if its use as cash "is less and less" in member countries.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

The "Digital Euro" is expected to officially launch at some point in 2025, and will be issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) as the official Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) of Europe. 

We continue to learn more as the project continues developing, which involves creating an entire new framework of rules and guidelines as this is the first-ever digital currency issued by the ECB. 

In the Project's Latest Updates We Get a Look at Something Many Have Been Wondering and Speculating On - How it Will Be Controlled?

In its most recent report, some of these questions are answered as the ECB introduces us to what they're calling "supervised intermediaries" - these will be the organizations having 'direct contact' with individuals, merchants and companies that use the digitized currency once it enters circulation.

For the EBC to consider an entity a qualified "supervised intermediary" that entity must be one supervised and controlled by a previously designated public authority, in charge of guaranteeing that the operations are executed within a pertinent regulatory framework. 

In other words, those already operating under oversight of finance and banking regulations.

Among approved intermediaries - payment service providers, credit institutions, electronic money institutions and payment institutions all 'meet the defined criteria' to provide services using the Digital Euro.

But Don't Expect to See the Digital Euro Next to Your Crypto in your Existing Digital Wallet...

As most expected the Digital Euro and other CBDCs to come will not have much in common with cryptocurrencies - while both are digital the similarities end there, as the way everything from software, to the internet, are used will be completely different.

Owning a Digital Euro does not mean freedom to choose how to store it, any digital wallet or entity that will manage your money, for both individual users and retailers, will be done with tools developed in partnership with, or organizations operating under the guidelines of the European Central Bank.

A test run is scheduled to start at the beginning of the new year and run through the first quarter of 2023  This exercise will include participants from every relevant sector - banks, payment service providers, consumers and merchants, which will then provide feedback to be included in a new report from the Central Bank.  This report is expected to either say that the tech is ready, or highlight what still needs to be changed or implemented before an official launch.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News