European Parliament Backs Online and Offline Digital Euro, Paving Way for 2027 Pilot
The European Parliament approved an amendment supporting a digital euro that works both online and offline, diverging from the lead rapporteur’s prior preference for an offline-only design. The Parliament said a digital euro is vital to strengthen EU monetary sovereignty, reduce retail payment fragmentation, and protect the single market’s integrity and resilience. The resolution warned that allowing private or non-EU actors to dominate payment digitization could create new exclusion risks for users and merchants. Under the legislative timetable, the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will vote on the proposal in early May. If the Council and Parliament reach agreement next year, the European Central Bank (ECB) could begin pilot testing in 2027 with an official launch as early as 2029. Primary keywords: digital euro, European Parliament, ECB. Secondary/semantic keywords: CBDC, offline payments, monetary sovereignty, retail payments. This development may accelerate regulatory clarity and implementation timelines for a pan-EU central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Neutral
The news is market-neutral overall. It reduces long-term regulatory uncertainty around a European CBDC by affirming political support for an online-and-offline digital euro and a plausible timeline (pilot in 2027, launch by 2029). That clarity can be positive for crypto infrastructure firms and stablecoin markets that interact with CBDC frameworks, but it does not directly change short-term crypto price drivers like monetary policy, macro risk appetite, or immediate liquidity. Historically, major CBDC milestones (policy decisions, pilot announcements) have produced muted or sector-specific market reactions: they tend to boost projects building compliant rails or tokenized RWA infrastructure while exerting limited direct upward pressure on broad crypto indices. Short-term traders may see increased volatility around key procedural votes (e.g., the May committee vote) and major ECB announcements, offering tactical opportunities in exchange and payments-related tokens; long-term investors should view this as incremental regulatory progress that could shift capital toward compliant on‑ramp/off‑ramp services and tokenized payment solutions. Overall, expect modest sectoral benefit without a clear bullish signal for the wider crypto market.