The European Union has been actively preparing for what it envisions as the future of money. In the past year, it finalized its landmark comprehensive crypto legislation, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which is due to take effect in 2024 after closing its second consultation in October.
It has also made progress in its plan to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is coming to fruition as the “digital euro.” De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, has described it simply as an “electronic form of public money - the coins and notes in our wallets.”