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ECB’s Nagel Sees Digital Euro Issuance Possible in 2029 if Law Is in Place by End-2026

27 January 2026

ECB’s Nagel Sees Digital Euro Issuance Possible in 2029 if Law Is in Place by End-2026
Joachim Nagel, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, at the ECB International Women’s Day 2025 in Frankfurt on March 7, 2025. Photo by Adrian Petty/ECB under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Tuesday said the Eurosystem is preparing to be able to issue a digital euro in 2029, provided legislation is agreed by the end of 2026.

According to prepared remarks to be delivered for a Bundesbank event in Berlin, Nagel, who heads the Bundesbank, said the Eurosystem is getting ready “to be able to issue the digital euro during the course of 2029,” assuming “the law on the digital euro is in place by the end of this year.”

A digital euro would be designed to complement cash rather than replace it, with Nagel calling it a “digital twin” of euro banknotes and coins and “not a substitute.”

Strategic autonomy featured prominently, with Nagel warning, “We are very dependent on U.S. corporations in payments today — too dependent,” and describing payments as “part of critical infrastructure.”

On privacy, he said the digital euro is being developed with a “maximum degree of privacy,” adding that Eurosystem central banks “will not be able to trace who is behind individual payments.”