The European Central Bank plans to release the digital euro in 2029, setting a clear horizon for technology, legal design and market rollout. In the years before launch, the ECB will select technology suppliers and write the legal rules that govern the new currency. The 2029 date matters for shoppers, banks and payment firms because it anchors the calendar for linking the new money to existing apps, deciding holding limits and getting coins into wallets.
Work on the project started on 1 November 2023, and the ECB treats the first twenty-four months as the foundation stage. Two progress reports, released in June and December 2024, showed that the builders have settled basic questions on privacy, on payments that work without an internet link and on a holding cap of roughly €3,000 per user—a cap meant to stop people from moving all bank deposits into central bank money. A CBDC is simply digital cash issued by the central bank, which the public can claim directly from the authority in the same way it now claims banknotes.
The next chores are to finish the scheme rulebook and sign firms for vital software parts. Sapient GmbH, Tremendous Software Consulting and equensWorldline are named in the paperwork; they will build tools like “pay to a phone number.” The ECB also runs a test lab with about seventy market players, copying the future market so private firms learn how to plug in.
Timeline, rulemaking and build plan for digital euro
The 2029 launch fits both EU law-making and the reality of coding a continent‑wide payments system. The ECB wants the needed EU law locked in by June 2025. After the statute is set, the bank expects two‑and‑a‑half to three more years to build, check and roll out the full network. Along the way, the code must obey the GDPR and must carry checks against crime. Christine Lagarde calls the file “a strategic priority” and asks lawmakers to pass the Bill without delay. The next solid checkpoint arrives in June 2025, when EU legislators must adopt the framework; once the law passes, the ECB enters the final build‑and‑test stretch that ends between 2027 and 2029.
The published roadmap shapes how people will adopt the coin and how the market will look. Under the hybrid model, only licensed banks and payment services give users access—ordinary banks stay in the middle of the payment flow. The €3,000 ceiling and the built‑in privacy wall aim to keep deposits from rushing away from commercial lenders and to protect personal data.
The digital euro roadmap now provides clear milestones for law, technology and market integration. With the June 2025 framework decision, supplier onboarding and testing on track, the final stretch leads to a 2029 release that gives shoppers, banks and payment firms a firm basis for planning.
