DEA Quarterly Insights: Shaping the Future of Digital Money | Q4 2024

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 Q4 2024, the DEA welcomed The Good Token Society as its newest strategic member.

The Good Token Society is a not-for-profit Swiss association dedicated to leveraging artificial intelligence, blockchain, and token-based innovations to create positive, real-world impacts on society. By breaking down silos to encourage cross-field ventures and fostering an ecosystem that drives impact, innovation, and investments, The Good Token Society champions blockchain innovation, unites the local community, and empowers projects, fostering sustainable, decentralized tech solutions.

Distinguished People and Public Affairs

The FinMaDiG law was officially passed in the German parliament in 2024


On December 18th, the FinMaDiG law was officially passed in the German parliament – a crucial milestone for advancing MiCA implementation across the EU. The next step should be to have the Bundesrat approve it. The DEA, alongside other advocates, played an active role in supporting this bill. Its passage ensures Germany remains competitive in the digital asset space and sets a strong foundation for future innovation.

Read the DEA call to action in English here: https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/germany-risks-losing-its-competitiveness-why-finmadig-must-be-passed-in-2024 

Read the DEA call to action in German here: https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/deutschland-droht-wettbewerbsverlust-finmadig-muss-2024-kommen 

DEA Publications

Open Source CBDC - Exploring Open Source in CBDC Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Central Banks

Launched on the 2nd of October, 2024, our working group developed the paper "Open Source CBDC: Exploring Open Source in CBDC Development" that includes contributions from leading specialists and stakeholders. This piece delves into the intricate dynamics between open-source software and CBDCs, exploring how leveraging open-source software and it's principles can foster innovation, enhance security, and facilitate collaboration.

The paper examines various aspects including configuring key open-source governance models, security provisions, maintaining privacy, and navigating regulatory landscapes. With insights from industry experts, it highlights the potential of open source platforms to transform financial ecosystems and the critical challenges that must be addressed to capitalize on these opportunities.

To access the complete insights from the DEA's latest publication, stakeholders and interested parties are encouraged to download the detailed paper here: https://home.digital-euro-association.de/working-groups  

To listen to the podcast episode discussing the publication further: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/69-neue-episode.  

DEA Events 

DEA Digital Money Networking Event 2024

The DEA's third Networking Event, held on October 8, 2024, brought together around 30 participants, including institutional members, dedicated fellows, and esteemed experts. Hosted at the prestigious Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, the event successfully fostered active engagement within the DEA community.

Read the recap here: https://blog.digital-euro-association.de/recap-of-the-dea-digital-money-networking-event-2024 

General Assembly 2024

On October 17, 2024, the DEA held its third general assembly virtually, with 11 participants in attendance. The meeting, attended by both lite and standard members, covered key resolutions, a recap of the 2023 achievements, and a strategic outlook for 2024. Notable decisions included the unanimous election of Anne-Sophie Gógl as Vice Chairwoman and the approval of the 2024 strategy, which emphasizes enhancing political initiatives, forging international partnerships, and expanding community visibility through events like the Digital Euro Conference. 

DEA Techy Tuesday | Episode 7 - Commercial Bank Money Token: R3 & EPN PoCs

In October 2024, Tamara F Schmidt interviewed Maximilian Maischein, Senior Expert Digital Currencies at DZ BANK AG and Roberto Pagliari, Senior Product Owner DLT Cash and Markets at Commerzbank AG on the results of their technical PoCs (R3 and EPN) from earlier this year. They discussed the technical implementations, trade-offs they made and what they learned along the way.

Watch the episode 👇

The Rise of Stablecoins in Europe

In November 2024, Conrad Kraft moderated an engaging panel discussion on the transformative role of stablecoins in Europe following the introduction of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. ​This event featured thought leaders across the stablecoin sector, including Patrick Hansen from Circle, Vid Hribar from Raiffeisen Bank, and Allan Pederson from Eurodollar. They shared their insights on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities arising from this regulatory shift. 

Watch the panel discussion 👇

DEA Techy Tuesday | Episode 8 - Revolutionizing Privacy and Compliance with Aleph Zero: Demo of the latest Tech Updates

In November 2024, Tamara F Schmidt interviewed ​Antoni Żółciak (Aleph Zero Co-Founder), ​Jakub Kocikowski (Aleph Zero Scrum Master) and ​Julian Leitloff (idOS Co-Founder) about Aleph Zero's technological advancements for digital currencies and ecosystems. It featured Shielder powered by zkOS, their privacy-preserving solution, Common for streamlined regulatory compliance, and idOS, their robust identity management platform. Together, these innovations highlight how Aleph Zero combines privacy, security, and compliance in support of next-generation digital currencies.

Watch the episode 👇

Events DEA attended

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

• Blockwall Investor Summit
  Panel Discussion: Why Privacy and Security Matter? Innovations in Privacy Enhancing Technologies

• Civil Society Seminar: Digital euro - Maintaining the freedom to choose how we pay. Organized by the European Central Bank. 

Watch the seminar 👇

• Talking about the digital euro - Business Lunch. Organized by Accenture Digital Euro Team with the participation of Dr. Alexandra Hachmeister, Director General Digital Euro at Deutsche Bundesbank.

DEA Podcast

This Month in Digital Money - October 2024

Join Conrad and Tamara from the Digital Euro Association for an insightful discussion on the October 2024 developments in the world of digital currencies. In this episode, we dive into the latest developments shaping the future of finance, including Brazil's ambitious CBDC project as it enters Phase 2 of its DREX pilot; Stripe's significant acquisition in the stablecoin space; Boerse Stuttgart's groundbreaking tests in tokenized security settlement as part of the ECB's wholesale DLT trials and much more.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/67-new-episode  


This Month in Digital Money - November 2024

Join Conrad and Tamara from the Digital Euro Association for an insightful discussion on the November 2024 developments in the world of digital currencies. In this episode, we dive into the latest developments shaping the future of finance, including Singapore Gulf Bank plans to raise $50 million and acquire a stablecoin payments firm; the Iran preparation to launch its digital rial CBDC; Brazil Taps Chainlink For Cross-Border CBDC Trade Finance Pilot and much more.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/68-new-episode  

Exploring Open Source in CBDC Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Central Banks

In this special episode of The Digital Euro Podcast, we delve into the transformative potential of open-source software (OSS) in shaping Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Join the Chairmen of his Working Group, Huber Knapp and Dr. Ritesh Jain as they unpack insights from the Working Group's latest paper, "Open Source CBDC: Opportunities and Challenges for Central Banks," with expert guests who contributed to this groundbreaking research.

Listen to the episode here: https://dea-podcast.podigee.io/69-neue-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-q3-2024  

⏩ Next Edition: