EU Draft Law Focused on Privacy in Using a Digital Euro Offline: CoinDesk

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June 26, 2023 06:55 EDT

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A proposed digital euro would have to be usable offline from day one to safeguard privacy, according to a draft law obtained by CoinDesk. 

“The digital euro shall be available for both online and offline digital euro payment transactions as of the first issuance of the digital euro,” according to the draft text viewed by CoinDesk. The level of privacy for offline, face-to-face use should be “comparable” to withdrawing banknotes at an ATM, Coindesk reported.

The European Union is contemplating launching that central bank digital currency and launched an investigation phase in October 2021. 

That phase is expected to conclude in October of this year, according to the ECB’s website. 

The version of the draft obtained by CoinDesk is set to be proposed by the European Commission on June 28. 

Privacy has become a focal point in the creation of a CBDC

Privacy was the most important feature in the creation of a digital currency, according to a survey done by the European Central Bank in 2021

In the US, privacy has also become important.

A Department of Treasury official said this week that it is looking into privacy behind the potential of a culture CBDC. 

“… it is important that we consider the extent to which privacy and anonymity might be preserved and explore the technologies and methods available, including Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), to enable such protections in the design of any potential retail CBDC. Such technologies could play a crucial role in maintaining transactional privacy while also ensuring transparency and traceability, thus reinforcing the trust of users in digital financial transactions,” said Graham Steele, assistant secretary for financial institutions at US Treasury. 

So far 11 countries have launched a CBDC and all G7 economies have moved into the development stage of a CBDC, according to the Atlantic Council.