Europe could be late and with a wrong approach to the implementation of the digital euro, according to Cristina Carrascosa, specialist lawyer in cryptocurrencies and business law.
The Spanish analyzes the limitations of the project and exposes why, in his opinion, the CBDC (Central Bank Digital) will not be able to compete with the Stablecoins.
Carrascosa points out that the main concerns of the European Central Bank (ECB) include private emitters that fragment the financial ecosystem, the competition that the Stablecoins represent for traditional banks, the even more marked predominance of the dollar over the euro and the limited relevance of Europe in global payment networks.
However, The specialist warns that these concerns overlook fundamental aspects today: “The issuance of money continues to function as years ago, but management in retail has suffered progressive liberalization, especially for digitalization,” he says.
With this, Carrascosa suggests that The retail money administration no longer depends solely on banks nor of centralized emission, but has been liberalized thanks to digital processes, allowing faster transfers, more flexible financial services and an ecosystem with greater participation of private actors. This, he maintains, is an aspect that European regulation still does not seem to be fully considering.
Another key point that the lawyer stands out is the need to differentiate between assets and infrastructure. According to her, Europe has not historically developed infrastructure for retail payments, which places it at geopolitical disadvantage against the United States.
“We have worried a lot about the euro and little to mount a good system that moves and distributes it,” explainedemphasizing that Strategic competitiveness depends on technological capacity; Not of monetary, sovereign or banking factors.
If the concern revolves around strategic competitiveness in the sector, let’s not be wrong: the value is in technological capacity. Neither monetary, nor sovereign, or bank. More and better technology means better strategic positioning at the level of competitiveness in commercial and payment services infrastructure.
Cristina Carrascosa, specialist in companies and cryptocurrencies.
In this way, Carrascosa emphasizes that the retail digital euro does not solve real problems for citizens. Its value, he affirms, focuses on the monetary strategy, not on the direct utility for the public: “It does not respond to a citizen need, but to monetary strategy, which I also do not believe that it will meet the expectations of those who are defending it.”
With regard to the stablecoins, Carrascosa considers that these assets operate in a more advanced and adaptable infrastructure than the digital euro.
He points out that, although there is talk of fíat money in intelligent contracts, True progress lies in payment infrastructure, custody and transaction processing that has already been implemented.
“Although yesterday I listened to a high position of a Spanish authority to say that the stablcoins are not money, the stablecoins issued under Mica and Genius, are as money as you have in the bank.”
It should be noted that Mica (Cryptoactive market regulations, for its acronym in English) is the comprehensive regulatory framework of the European Union for cryptocurrency markets. This regulates transparency, authorization and supervision of transactions, including stable currencies.
For its part, Genius (Guonding and Establishment National Innovation for US) is a Federal Law of the United States that creates a complete regulatory framework for payment stablcoins, demanding support 1: 1 with liquid reserves. As Cryptonotics reported, it was approved by the House of Representatives in July 2025.
The digital euro runs the risk of falling back
Carrascosa emphasizes that assets and infrastructure should be analyzed separately. Stable currencies, for example, attract retailers and companies for their ability to generate yields, programability and speed in transfers, while technological infrastructure is what allows these instruments to function efficiently and safely.
The specialist warns that traditional regulators, including Europeans, do not see that “centralized protocols will have to live with infrastructure developed by fully private companies and many of them operating with tokens.”
To illustrate this, he affirms that Stablecoins currently grow at a rate close to 30% semiannual in volume of transactions, while many suppliers still lack authorization to process payments.
Finally, Carrascosa raises two possible roads for Europe: quickly develop an infrastructure that complements the existing one for FÍAT money and facilitate the circulation of stablcoins backed by the euro, or collaborate with private companies that are already building competitive solutions at technological, regulatory and operational levels.
“The digital euro is not important, it is not a citizen necessity and it will not compete with the stablcoins,” he said.