DEA Quarterly Insights: Shaping the Future of Digital Money | Q1 2025

Welcome to the latest edition of the Digital Euro Association's Quarterly Insights! 

This comprehensive blog post presents a concise overview of our association's activities and achievements over the past three months. As we continue to navigate the ever-changing landscape of digital money, this summary highlights our strides in promoting financial innovation, fostering education, and exploring groundbreaking initiatives.

Join us on this exciting journey as we delve into the key milestones and accomplishments that shape the future of digital money!

New Members  

In Q1 2025, the DEA welcomed Accenture, KPMG, Union Investment, and Finansit as its newest lite members and Austrian Payment Academy as its newest strategic member.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company renowned for its expertise in digital, cloud, and security solutions. Accenture's comprehensive services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and interactive solutions, enabling organizations to build their digital core, optimize operations, and accelerate growth.

KPMG is also one of the leading auditing and advisory firms in Germany and has more than 14,000 employees at 28 locations. Their services are organized into the Audit, Tax and Advisory divisions. 

Union Investment is an active German asset manager based in Frankfurt/Main, offering a comprehensive range of investment solutions across various asset classes and regions. Union Investment was founded in 1956.

Finansit is a company with unique experience developing IT systems for the financial market. They have focused on asset management, fund administration, private banking, and financial advisors.

Austrian Payment Academy is an ambitious and dynamically growing education and networking platform aspiring to provide people in payment services with a comprehensive and versatile overview of relevant topics. These include payment infrastructure, card and retail payments, e-commerce, digital payments, marketing, legal aspects, and many other decisive elements of the industry.

Distinguished People and Public Affairs

Clarifying the Political Landscape: German Parties on Digital Money

In light of the recent German elections and the imminent formation of a new government, the DEA published a comprehensive overview of the positions held by German political parties on digital money. This mapping exercise aimed to shed light on the evolving political discourse around the digital euro, stablecoins, and public-private collaboration in digital finance, providing clarity on where the future Bundestag might steer Germany’s digital currency agenda.

A Call for European Monetary Sovereignty

The DEA issued a timely response to the White House Executive Order abandoning CBDC development and promoting US dollar-denominated stablecoins as strategic instruments of financial power. We highlighted the geopolitical implications of the US approach for Europe, emphasizing the need for the EU to adopt a proactive stance to preserve monetary sovereignty and respond to the global shift in digital currency policy leadership.

MiCAR in Practice: Early Insights into Europe’s New Digital Asset Framework

Following the entry into force of the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), the DEA offered in-depth insights into its practical implications for the digital asset industry. Drawing on expertise from legal, regulatory, market, and policy stakeholders, our analysis provided early guidance on implementation challenges, stablecoin compliance, and the broader impact on crypto innovation in Europe. This marked an important step in supporting industry readiness and fostering informed public discourse.

DEA Events 

The Wyoming Stablecoin: State-Backed Digital Innovation

In January 2025, at a Digital Euro Association roundtable, we had the privilege of speaking with Anthony Apollo, Executive Director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission. He shared groundbreaking insights into Wyoming’s stable token (WST) – the first U.S. state-backed stablecoin that could reshape public-sector finance and digital payments.

Watch the episode 👇

https://www.youtube.com/live/7T9T9S_w9v4?feature=shared 

DEA Techy Tuesday | Episode 9 - Revolutionizing Stablecoins: Hedera's Toolkit

In January 2025, Tamara F Schmidt interviewed Greg Scullard (Executive Director EMEA, Hashgraph) on the open-source Hedera Stable Coin Studio, where you can explore stablecoin issuance on the Hedera network in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks. In this session, you will also learn about its hybrid token architecture, which supports fast and low-fee transfers along with programmable token management.

Watch the episode 👇

https://www.youtube.com/live/7on0mgxDpQk?feature=shared 

DEA Panel Discussion | MiCAR in Action: Adapting to the New Digital Assets Landscape

In February 2025, Anne-Sophie Kappel led a panel discussion on the recent entry into force of the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). Bringing together key voices from the crypto industry, legal practice, and regulatory advisory, the conversation focused on MiCAR’s real-world impact – particularly around stablecoins, crypto payments, institutional adoption, and compliance readiness. Panellists Kam Dylan from Eurodollar, Christian Steiner from Bitpanda, Boika Deleva from Clifford Chance, Kemal Ahmedi from Annerton, and Elise Souci Watts from Global Digital Finance shared practical insights and reflected on how MiCAR is influencing strategic decisions across the ecosystem. The session highlighted the importance of legal clarity, cross-sector collaboration, and a proactive approach to navigating regulatory change in Europe’s evolving digital economy.

Watch the episode 👇

https://www.youtube.com/live/J6gK_mjLyU4?si=YbMSSY1ruJYhcI-3 

Digital Euro Conference 2025 (DEC25)

The DEC25, conducted on March 27th, 2025, assembled a diverse group of experts, policymakers, and industry leaders in a hybrid setting, combining both on-site and remote participation. The engaging event happened in three designated spaces (Audimax, Innovation Room and Roundtable Room) and featured discussions, presentations, and panel sessions focusing on topics such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and Commercial Bank Money Tokens. 

See the official photos: https://vincuals.pixieset.com/digitaleuroconference2025/ 

Events DEA attended

In February, DEA had the opportunity to participate in the following events:

• Time for the pivotal move on CBDCs. Report launch event hosted by OMFIF’s DMI with the participation of G+D’s Wolfram Seidemann.

March

• Das neue Geld verstehen: Digitaler Euro und Kryptowährungen hosted by the Austrian Payment Academy.
  Presentation: Digitaler Euro.
  
  
• Crypto Assets Conference 2025
  Panel Discussion: Issuing Stablecoin in Europe - Requirements, Licenses & Use Cases

DEA Podcast

This Month in Digital Money - January 2025

Join Conrad, Anne-Sophie and Tamara from the Digital Euro Association for an in-depth breakdown of January’s biggest developments in the digital currency world. This episode covers the growing geopolitical tensions around CBDCs, including Trump’s Executive Order banning CBDCs in the US and the notable exclusion of the Fed from a new inter-agency digital assets working group. We also explore the UK’s forward momentum with the launch of its digital point innovation lab, the ECB’s firm rejection of Bitcoin in reserves, and MiCAR’s official rollout in Europe, kickstarting comprehensive stablecoin regulation. Plus, we look at Monei, the Spanish fintech selected by the ECB to test digital euro infrastructure.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/70-new-episode 

This Month in Digital Money - February 2025

In this episode, Conrad, Anne-Sophie and Tamara explore how the global stablecoin and CBDC landscape is evolving. We discuss the US’s newly published draft Stablecoin Bill and the ECB’s announcement of a blockchain-based payment system for wholesale settlements. We reflect on the SEC’s surprise move to drop its case against Coinbase and what this signals for crypto policy. Other highlights include the recent Bybit hack, R3 and IDEMIA’s offline CBDC collaboration, and the Braza Group’s launch of the BBRL stablecoin on the XRP Ledger to support financial inclusion in South America.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/71-new-episode 

This Month in Digital Money - March 2025

In this episode, Conrad, Anne-Sophie, and Tamara delve into the evolving landscape of global stablecoins and CBDCs. They explore key developments, including the ECB’s push for a digital euro, Brazil’s efforts to integrate blockchain into BRICS trade, the UAE’s upcoming digital dirham launch, BlackRock’s expansion into Bitcoin ETPs, the ICE-Circle partnership on digital asset innovation, and South Korea’s large-scale CBDC experiment. Tune in for insights on how these shifts are shaping the future of digital finance.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/73-new-episode 

The DEA remains committed to pioneering the future of digital money, driven by innovation, collaboration, and a shared vision of a digitally empowered world. As we look ahead to the next quarter, we are excited to embark on new endeavors, expand our horizons, and continue making a positive impact. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

⏪ Previous Edition: https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/dea-quarterly-insights-q4-2024  

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