%{{tag.tag}} {{articledata.title}} {{moment(articledata.cdate)}} @{{articledata.company.replace(" ","")}} comment The European Central Bank (ECB) is planning to launch a %DigitalEuro currency this October. Legislation enabling the creation of a digital Euro still needs to pass in the European Parliament, and many lawmakers on the continent remain skeptical of such a move. However, the ECB is keen to move forward with a digital currency and would be the first major central bank to do so, if all goes according to plan. While other central banks, including in the U.S., Canada and Japan, have studied digital currencies, none have decided to proceed with one, saying the risks are too great currently. A digital Euro, which would be the European Union’s (EU) central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been hotly debated and met with different viewpoints in recent years. Some countries, such as Spain, have actively fought against a digital Euro even as the European Central Bank itself has argued that the need for one is pressing. ECB President Christine Lagarde recently said that a digital Euro is “critically important,” and “more relevant and more imperative than ever before.” Should the European Union decide to issue a digital Euro, it will be following in the steps of countries such as Jamaica and Nigeria that have already launched central bank digital currencies. News of a digital Euro comes as cryptocurrency prices continue to decline, with the price of %Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC ) falling 7% in the past 24 hours to trade at $83,000 U.S.