Piero Cipollone: The popularization of stablecoins weakens the banking deposit base, and the digital euro maintains the status of currency

Piero Cipollone, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, stated that the large-scale adoption of stablecoins weakens the retail deposit base of commercial banks. Digital payments are reshaping the banking industry and increasing Europe's dependence on non-European payment infrastructures. Cipollone pointed out that banks face declining fee income from payments and the loss of transaction data, while the mainstream use of stablecoins intensifies deposit outflows from commercial banks. Cipollone emphasized that the digital euro will preserve the status of public money and ensure the participation of banks in the payment ecosystem. The European Central Bank has selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month digital euro pilot project, which is scheduled to start in the second half of 2027.