Bundesbank president not in favor of a crypto-euro

Jens Weidmann, member of the ECB and boss of the Federal Bank of Germany, would like the european central banks are developing a faster and cheaper payment system.

To counter Libra, Facebook’s crypto-project that could create a monopoly in the payments sector, the president of the Bundesbank advise to design a payment system easier to use, cheaper and accessible from your smartphone.

In an interview with the German daily Handelsblatt, Weidmann explained that central bankers must first define the benefits and risks associated with central bank digital currencies before they want to issue a crypto-euro.

However, central banks and the Federal Bank of Germany herself are already working on pilot projects of blockchain or from digital currency.

More specifically, the Bundesbank test technology blockchain in addition to its central account-based solution to facilitate payments between the country’s banks.

According to Weidmann, the blockchain “Initially is not more efficient compared to centralized processing” but nevertheless allows the integration of automatic functionalities (smart contracts).

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While China says he is ready to launch his digital currency, the European politician believes that the huge country of East Asia “may be faster, but it also has a very different political system”.

“Over there the state has a lot of power. I think a social market economy will find a place in a free society, “he said.

Last month, the Banque de France announced that it wanted to test a central bank digital currency (MDBC).

According to its governor Villeroy de Galhau, the MDBC (or CBDC in English) “are not a precondition or sufficient” for more efficient payments, but central banks must, however, “seize this injunction to innovation”.