Europe Selects 36 Payment Companies for Digital Euro Pilot

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Tuesday the 36 payment service providers selected to participate in the pilot phase of the digital euro project. The list includes major names such as Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and Revolut, as well as U.S.-based Stripe and European payment processors Adyen, SumUp and Worldline.

Only 36 of more than 50 applicants were selected. The pilot will begin in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months. Alongside the ECB, 19 of the euro area’s 21 national central banks will participate. Bulgaria and Malta are absent from the list, and the ECB did not explain why.

The full list of 36 participants is as follows:

What will the pilot test?

The pilot will assess the digital euro’s technical functionality and operational processes. It will also be used to improve the user experience.

Staff at participating central banks will test person-to-person and person-to-business payments at physical points of sale and through e-commerce platforms. The version used in the pilot will be technically close to the final product, although it will not have legal tender status.

Dollar stablecoins remain in the background

The ECB did not mention the word “stablecoin” anywhere in its announcement. However, the broader motivation behind the project is clear.

According to CoinGecko data, almost the entire $306 billion stablecoin market is tied to the U.S. dollar. Tether’s USDT and USD Coin, or USDC, account for 84% of the market between them.

Circle’s EURC, the largest euro-denominated stablecoin, has a market capitalization of around $424 million. That makes it roughly one-four-hundredth the size of USDT.

ECB President Christine Lagarde previously rejected proposals for privately issued euro stablecoins, arguing that public money should fulfil that role. The central bank has also warned that widespread adoption of private euro-denominated tokens could pose a risk to bank deposits.

One of the companies on the pilot list is Revolut, which removed USDT from its European platform after the transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, expired this month.

The inclusion of U.S.-based Stripe in the same group raises a separate set of questions.

Legal process moves forward in parallel

The European Parliament approved the digital euro legislation on July 9 by 416 votes to 169. Negotiations with EU member states and the European Commission began on July 13.

The negotiating team, led by Spanish lawmaker Fernando Navarrete, aims to finalise the legislation this year. If the timetable holds, the first issuance could take place in 2029.

Nothing will change for consumers before 2027. If the project reaches the issuance stage, Europeans will be able to use central bank money in digital form and spend it like cash in stores and online.

The 169 votes against the legislation show that the project remains controversial even within the European Parliament.

Critics argue that the digital euro could ultimately benefit U.S. payment companies. Stripe’s presence on the pilot list does little to settle that debate. Instead, it is likely to intensify it.