The Digital Euro Conference 2023: A Recap

The Digital Euro Conference (DEC23) held on the 31st of March, 2023, brought together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders in a hybrid format. Both on-site and remote participants engaged in insightful discussions, presentations, and panel sessions centered around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Stablecoins, and Commercial Bank Money Tokens. Here's an extended summary of the key takeaways from the event:

Welcome, Introduction, and Opening Keynote

Dr. Jonas Gross kicked off the conference with a warm welcome, a short overview of the Digital Euro Association, and an opening introduction that set the stage for the day's discussions. He emphasized the importance of education, building a broad and diverse digital money community, and collaboration between central banks, the private sector, and the public to ensure the development of inclusive and efficient digital currencies. 

Dr. Jonas Gross - Chairman of DEA

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Part 1: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

Dirk Schrade provided an update on the Digital Euro, followed by Jamiel Sheikh's presentation on the CBDC Manifesto. The subsequent panels delved into the opportunities and challenges of CBDCs, strategies for making a CBDC successful, and technological choices in CBDC development.

Dirk Schrade - Deutsche Bundesbank

Jamiel Sheikh - CBDC ThinkTank

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Panel Discussion: Opportunities and Challenges of CBDCs

Dr. Jonas Gross moderated the first panel of the conference, which aimed to discuss the opportunities and challenges of CBDCs. Panelists representing Visa, DWS, Banque de France, besides Miguel Fernandez Ordóñez (Former President, Bank of Spain), had the chance to share their opinions and discuss the tradeoffs of a CBDC as a new means of payment.

Miguel Fernandez Ordóñez - Former President, Bank of Spain (Left), Maike Hornung - Visa (Centre-Left), Alexander Bechtel - DWS (Centre-Right), Dr. Jonas Gross - DEA (Right) and Alexandre Stervinou - Banque de France (on screen)

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Panel Discussion: How to Make a CBDC a Success?

Moderated by Conrad Kraft from the Digital Euro Association, the panel featured experts from Bundesdruckerei, Sveriges Riksbank, European Data Protection Supervisor, and the Bank for International Settlements. Panelists discussed various aspects of CBDC design, education, regulation and public engagement necessary to ensure the success of a CBDC. Topics included the importance of user-centric design, interoperability, privacy, and fostering collaboration between central banks and the private sector. It was noted that no single definition for success exists and that there is a “goldilocks zone” that is required to ensure that a CBDC is successful.

Anne-Sophie Gógl - Bundesdruckerei (Left), Stefano Leucci - European Data Protection Supervisor (Centre), Conrad Kraft - DEA (Right), Veljko Andrijasevic - Sveriges Riksbank (Left on screen) and Sonja Davidovic - Bank for International Settlements (Right on screen)

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Panel Discussion: CBDC Technological Choices

Tamara F. Schmidt from the Digital Euro Association moderated the panel on CBDC technological choices, with panellists representing Magyar Nemzeti Bank, IBM, Ripple, and Crunchfish. The panel explored various technology options for CBDC implementation, including blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and centralized systems. Panelists also discussed the potential challenges and opportunities associated with each technological choice, besides debating about account vs. token-based CBDCs, interoperability and offline payments.

Anthony Ralphs - Ripple (Left), Wolfgang Berger - IBM (Centre-Left), Anikó Szombati - Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Centre), Joachim Samuelsson - Crunchfish (Centre-Right) and Tamara F. Schmidt - DEA (Right)

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Presentation: Web3 Payment Ecosystem - Enabling Seamless Transactions with CBDCs and Stablecoins

Victor Ammer from Ammer Group delivered an engaging presentation on the role of the Web3 payment ecosystem in enabling seamless transactions with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins.. Ammer shared the real-world use case of their market-ready product, the Ammer Card, which was successfully used for payments during the Digital Euro Conference 2023. Attendees were impressed by the ease and simplicity of the technology, as the card facilitated quick and effortless blockchain transactions.

Victor Ammer - Ammer Group

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Presentation: CBDC Adoption and Real Life Use Cases

Antony Welfare from Ripple shared insights on the adoption of CBDCs in various countries and their real-life use cases. He emphasised the potential of CBDCs to increase financial inclusion, lower transaction costs, and facilitate faster cross-border payments and central banks having a digital platform that allows for a myriad of calibration options and real-time monitoring.

Antony Welfare - Ripple

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Part 2: Stablecoins

To kick off the second part of the conference on stablecoins, Sarah Palurovic from the Digital Euro Association presented an overview of the Stablecoin market. She highlighted how for the first time in history banks represent a risk to the stability of stablecoins and the history of failed stablecoin projects, the majority of which were decentralised algorithmic stablecoins. Stablecoin panel discussions focused on the use cases and benefits of Stablecoins, and their regulation. 

Sarah Palurovic - DEA

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Panel Discussion: Riding the Wave of “Stability”: Use Cases and Benefits of Stablecoins

The panel on Riding the Wave of "Stability" highlighted the growth of stablecoins and their potential in cross-border payments, remittances, and the impact of MiCAR (Market in Crypto Assets Regulation). David Tercero-Lucas from Lipis Advisors moderated the panel with panellists representing Bosch, Roland Berger, Stasis and Zanders.

Ricky Lamberty - Bosch (Left), Gregory Klumov - Stasis (Centre-Left), Sebastian Maus - Roland Berger (Centre), Robert Richter - Zanders (Centre-Right) and David Tercero-Lucas - Lipis Advisors (Right)

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Panel Discussion: Regulation of Stablecoins

The subsequent panel on Regulation of Stablecoins was moderated by Stefan Kromolicki, from Blockchain for Europe, who hosted panelists representing Circle, University of Basel, Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe and YPOG. The discussion started with the definition and taxonomy of stablecoins, evolving to the current stablecoin regulation initiatives and its challenges, and finished with the panelists' perspectives on the MiCAR.

Stefan Kromolicki - Blockchain for Europe (Left), Carsten Lösing - YPOG (Centre-Left), Simon Seiter - Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (Centre-Right), Patrick Hansen - Circle (Right) and Corinne Zellweger-Gutknecht - University of Basel (on screen)

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Part 3: Commercial Bank Money Tokens and the Future of Money

Keynote: Regulated Liability Network

Jan Rosam from EY delivered a keynote speech on the Regulated Liability Network, which focused on the evolving role of commercial banks in the digital currency landscape. He discussed how banks can leverage tokenized money to improve settlement efficiency and reduce counterparty risk.

Jan Rosam - EY

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Panel Discussion: Commercial Bank Money Tokens

The panel on Commercial Bank Money Tokens, moderated by Manuel Klein from Deutsche Bank, featured experts from EY, DZ Bank, Onyx by JP Morgan, and the Association of German Banks. Panellists discussed the role of commercial banks in the digital currency ecosystem, opportunities for creating new financial products, what is driving banks to offer new instruments, and the regulatory challenges that arise from tokenizing commercial bank money.

Manuel Klein - Deutsche Bank (Left), Jan Rosam - EY (Centre-Left), Simon Zieglgruber - Association of German Banks (Centre), Basak Toprak - Onyx by JP Morgan (Centre-Right) and Claus George - DZ Bank (Right)

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Panel Discussion: CBDCs, Stablecoins, Commercial Bank Money Tokens – What is the Future of Money?

The final panel, moderated by John Kiff from SODA, brought together experts from Jones Day, GFT Technologies, DSGV, and the International Monetary Fund. The panellists contemplated the future of money, comparing CBDCs, Stablecoins, and Commercial Bank Money Tokens, and discussed how these forms of digital currency will coexist and transform the global financial landscape.

Nick Wittek - Jones Day (Left), Ernesto Troiano - GFT Technologies (Centre-Left), Philipp Hartmannsgruber - DSGV (Centre-Right), John Kiff - Sovereign Official Digital Association (Right) and Kateryna Zhabska - International Monetary Fund (on screen)

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Here’s what a few of the attendees had to say about the event:

“Very dense and informative conference (and this is rare!)” - Christian Pfister

"Very good and condensed look at the current state of the digital euro with a broad set of expert speakers" - Thomas Hartmann, IBM Consulting

“It is great to see more central banks attending DEA events” - Roman Hartinger

"Very insightful presentations. I can’t wait to attend the upcoming event! - Rana Sbaity

The DEC23 proved to be a valuable platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and shape the future of digital currencies. We thank all our sponsors, panellists, and attendees for their support and contribution to the conference's success.

Marcel Kaiser - Defiria (Left), Chris Ostrowsky - Sovereign Official Digital Association (Centre) and
John Kiff - Sovereign Official Digital Association (Right)

DEA Team (from left to right): Conrad Kraft, Tamara F. Schmidt, Sarah Palurovic,
Dr. Jonas Gross, Lena Grale, Valentin Seehausen and Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner

Thank you to all who contributed to make the Digital Euro Conference 2023 a resounding success!

For more information on the Digital Euro Conference and to stay updated on future events, visit our website.