5 May 2025

• ECB establishes an innovation platform with around 70 market participants on new platform
• Participants to test digital euro payment functionalities and explore innovative use cases
• Findings to be shared in report later this year

The European Central Bank (ECB) has established an innovation platform to collaborate with European stakeholders in the context of the digital euro project. almost 70 market participants – including merchants, fintech companies, start-ups, banks and other payment service providers – have signed up to work with the ECB to explore digital euro payment functionalities and use cases. Following a call for interest published in October 2024, the ECB received over 100 applications from around 70 participants, who joined one or both of the workstreams “pioneers” and “visionaries”.

The innovation platform simulates the envisaged digital euro ecosystem, in which the ECB provides the technical support and infrastructure for European intermediaries to…