The Financial Times did a very uncritical article on the Digital Euro today. But all the PR in the world cannot create a need that does not exist for a currency people don't want. Let's break down the ECB's 3 arguments for the Digital Euro 1. “Universal accessibility” How so? The digital euro comes with holding limits and additional KYC requirements (with surveillance thrown in for good measure). This makes it significantly less accessible than cash. 2. “Strategic autonomy” Not really. In developing a centralized state-backed digital currency, ECB outsourced infrastructure to private (including non-European) firms. Strategic autonomy would mean at the very least supporting European fintech and open standards, not launching a digital currency with weak adoption incentives, and a user-experience that is second rate compared to Visa and Apple Pay. 3. “Financial stability” The opposite is true. A widely used Digital Euro risks triggering deposit flight and bank runs at times of crises. The ECB tries to solve this problem (that it introduces) through the Digital Euro through capping how much you can hold. However, this further limits the digital euro’s actual utility as money. Trust isn’t built through control, surveillance and PR, it is built through voluntary adoption, demonstrating need and answering consumer demand with great user experience - none of which the digital euro does. The digital Euro is unwanted, unneeded and unnecessary (except to the Central Bank).