Bitkom warns that Europe is lagging behind internationally on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and calls for a significant increase in the speed of testing a digital euro on the blockchain (here meant: a digital central bank euro on a blockchain-basis). While countries around the world are already experimenting with digital central bank money, the public discussion in Germany and Europe often reveals a lack of basic understanding of the matter. This paper is intended to help counteract this and thus create the basis for a broad public debate.
To this end, the paper first defines fundamental concepts, such as the demarcation between money and currency or digital central bank money. Afterwards, possible forms of a digital euro are explained and possible risks and challenges are described. A separate chapter is also devoted to the special opportunities offered by blockchain technology for digital currencies.
