If the digital euro would simply be a cashu mint that users could connect any cashu wallet to it might be interesting (at least until the euro hyperinflates due to europe’s unsustainable social security and demographics). That would at least provide protection against censorship of individual users. But the ECB would never allow a truly private and open digital cash system.
An open letter from 70 European renowned economists asks for an acceleration in the launch of the digital Euro.
While these academics correctly identifies the risks of Europe’s current dependence on foreign payment monopolies, its proposed solution (the Digital Euro) suffers from a profound ignorance of an existing, superior alternative: Bitcoin.
The signatories frame the Digital Euro as the "only defense" for European sovereignty, yet they overlook a battle-tested technology that already achieves their stated goals without the inherent risks of a centralized state currency.
They claim that a European CBDC is the "only" way to ensure resilience. However, Bitcoin has operated 24/7 since 2009 with 99.9% uptime, providing a globally available, robust payment infrastructure that is "immediately available" today, unlike the Digital Euro which remains a project with mired in political negotiations with undefined technological foundations.
The economists all belong to SFL (Sustainable Finance Lab), an independent academic think tank stemming out of Utrecht University’s School of Economics. “The mission of the Sustainable Finance Lab is to contribute to a financial sector that serves people and planet.”
And yet, in 2025, they still ignore Bitcoin.
You can find the letter (PDF) here: https://sustainablefinancelab.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/506/2026/01/The-Digital-Euro-Let-te-public-interest-prevail.pdf
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