Bank of Spain, through sandboxhas chosen BBVA, Caixabank and fintech donor To rehearse a scenario with a digital euro, Both the banks will act as its custodians stable coins EURM, anchored to the Euro and developed by Moni. The two financial institutions have been experimenting with cryptocurrency-linked services for some time. in fact, andBBVA was one of the pioneer institutes to take the leap, Incorporating crypto assets into its banking proposition in 2021 from its subsidiary in Switzerland. Then, in October, it reported an agreement with Proteus Capital, a firm specializing in digital token investments, to hold its bitcoin and ether in a Swiss subsidiary.
for his part, CaixaBank explores the platform in 2020 blockchain we tradededicated to the execution and financing of foreign trade transactions of its corporate clients, and in 2021 selected fintech Onyze, specialized in custody of digital assets and infrastructure for the development of related projects blockchain and crypto assets. Despite these moves, Offering cryptocurrencies to customers by banks retail still more than laggingeven blocked, and from there to the silent confrontation between banks and bank exchanges of cryptocurrency.
Moni has been chosen to test the CBDC in our country
Finally, the third part of the initial team is formed in the project. money, one fintech eSpecializing in payment processing for electronic commerce. Among their services, they have Money Pay, a POS without a physical terminal that can be used on mobile devices such as Android and iOS, making it easy to pay bills with accepted services on this gateway.
Most recently, they added the EURM token to their list of payment options, thus closing the circle with BBVA and Caixabank forming a small financial ecosystem that includes everything from banking services to specialized payment gateways. The project aims to lay the foundation for a digital euro Who wants to establish the European Central Bank (ECB). According to Moni’s CEO, Alex Saez: “This is our opportunity to show Europe and the rest of the world that we are at the forefront.”
EURM predates the digital euro
Although the project sandbox Spanish has no validity before the European Central BankThis shows how there is more and more interest in adopting the digital euro of the future, even at the national level. In this case, Monei presents EURM as a stable cryptocurrency pegged to the euro price, which will be available for the time being only in a test environment and under the supervision of BBVA and Caixabank, which will be custodians of EURM issued in 2019 . This stage of the laboratory.
To participate in this test environment, Requires downloading the MONI mobile app, making a recharge of up to €10 and going through a personal identification process similar to a traditional bank hey exchange of cryptocurrency, digitally. Once the registration is passed, the Euro entered will be converted to EURM, which can be used wherever MONI is accepted as a means of payment. Like all tokens or cryptocurrencies, EURM is developed on a blockchain network, in the same way that bitcoin or ether do.
In this case, instead of being a public and decentralized network, It is a private network and controlled by a central broadcaster. This is one of the eternal debates about CBDCs that exist from a technical point of view, because, beyond moving away from the theoretical plan of cryptocurrencies based on decentralization, the issuance of public money on centralized networks in some points makes them vulnerable. in. Simply put, Creating and managing a country’s monetary base with a centralized system involves a high degree of risk.
This is the planned launch system for the EURM. Similar to the one used by China in the testing phase of its e-yuan, The launch was initially planned for mid-2021 in a limited area in Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong, and in early 2022 after months of testing and several billion euros due to transaction changes, the project has already been opened Thi is the first country in the world to launch its CBDC on a national scale.
Suspicion remains about privacy
As the design of the digital euro progresses, So do all the alarm about the lack of privacy it can impose. As Christine Lagarde said at a press conference last November: “In our public consultation, 43% of respondents rated privacy as the most important aspect of the digital euro, far ahead of other features. It is therefore clear that if we want the digital euro to be attractive, it must be designed in a way that meets people’s privacy expectations.” In the same appearance, he also explained how, despite pleas from the public, the digital euro of the future will not be able to enjoy the privacy that cash offers., The implementation of the renegotiated currency is believed to be aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, and from there all transactions issued in Euros are transparent, traceable, irreversible and recorded in real time.
It should also be remembered that the issuance of the digital euro will be linked to the imminent implementation of the European Digital ID, which will be like a personal identity wallet across the EU., Its purpose is to electronically facilitate bureaucratic procedures, identifying social environments such as Facebook or Instagram, Platforms such as banking or insurance, and would be linked to the use of the digital euro by its holder himself.
This Spanish pilot shows that, although there may be local operators that provide fintech solutions, control will be exercised by the European Central Bank for its issuance and by the Bank of Spain for its distribution through banks. According to Mooney himself: «EURM provides greater transparency which will allow the authorities and the tax agency to consult these movements in real time, CBDCs are getting closer, and their finalization and implementation will be the biggest monetary milestone in centuries. Time will tell whether for better or for worse.
