Digital Euro: EU Answers to Dollar Dominance Using Ethereum or Solana

According to recent news in circulation sparking debates in the crypto community, suggesting the EU Digital Euro Stablecoin plans are possibly to be launched on the Ethereum or Solana platform. The European Union is fast-tracking its plans to launch a digital euro stablecoin. This strategic initiative is to transform the European financial system by taking advantage of the latest blockchain technologies to enhance efficiency, security, and accessibility.

Why It’s Only Ethereum or Solana?

The EU has to make a critical choice between Solana and Ethereum as the underlying blockchain. Ethereum, with its established smart contract platform, supports more than 1.2 million transactions per day (2024 statistics) and has a market capitalization of about $400 billion as of the middle of 2025. Its shift to proof-of-stake in 2022 has made it much less energy-intensive.

Source: WatchGuru X

However, Solana has high throughput with the ability to make 65,000 transactions per second. It uses minimal energy, reportedly 99% less than that of Ethereum before the 2022 proof-of-work system. Nonetheless, the network outages that Solana experienced in 2022 cast doubt on its reliability. This will also have to be taken into consideration by the European Union before making a final decision.

Regulatory Alignment and Financial Strategy of the EU

This project is consistent with the 2024/2509 Financial Regulation and the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework of the EU . It aims to provide technology-neutral regulation of digital assets. By incorporating decentralized technologies into the financial system of the eurozone, the EU aims to ensure financial stability in the face of the predicted rise of stablecoins. This will reach a market of $2.5 trillion by 2028 (McKinsey & Company, 2024).

The European Central Bank (ECB) points out that the use of dollar-based stablecoins may diminish the monetary freedom of Europe. A digital euro stablecoin would. Thus, there is a technological and geopolitical approach that could transform the global financial system.

What is Essential in Blockchain Selection?

Energy efficiency will be a major consideration in the blockchain selection of the EU. Whereas Ethereum has shifted to a more sustainable proof-of-stake model.  Solana has a low-energy infrastructure by design, which has the potential to be even more aligned with EU environmental policies. This is an important consideration, bearing in mind the bloc's continued investment in climate-friendly financial technologies.

Consequences to Global Finance

The launch of a digital euro stablecoin will undermine the position of the U.S. dollar and may transfer a considerable amount of liquidity into euro-based stablecoins. Ursula von der Leyen, who has been a proponent of blockchain integration since 2019, welcomes this decision as one that will make the system more autonomous, transparent, and efficient. It reduces the risks of the currently fast-growing digital asset markets.

Conclusion

The digital euro stablecoin is a significant milestone in the integration between conventional finance and the blockchain . The decision between Solana and Ethereum will be based on the balance between transaction efficiency, sustainability of energy consumption, and reliability, which will be a milestone in European finance and the whole stablecoin market.