In fact, a CBDC's potential contribution to boosting the strategic autonomy of the European Union, by offering a fast and efficient alternative to other payment providers, is one of the key reasons why the Eurosystem is assessing the issuance of a digital euro. But it is not the only one. The role of the euro as monetary anchor is not only being put to the test by these new developments, but also, and probably more importantly, by the natural evolution of society. The increasing digitalisation of every aspect of our daily lives is reducing the use of cash as a means of payment. Should it reach the point where cash is hardly used, the convertibility of central bank money and private money would be put at risk, affecting people's confidence in the latter. We believe that having a digital euro to ensure convertibility between these two types of money would underpin and protect the integrity of the euro as a unit of account. A digital euro could also foster innovation, increase the efficiency of payments, and reduce our current reliance on non-European payment solutions and technologies. I think the benefits of issuing digital central bank money for retail use are clear, but we cannot forget the other side of the coin. CBDCs come, indeed, with a number of challenges. The technical or operational ones, such as setting up a whole new payment infrastructure, giving digital access to central bank money to every citizen and delving into the intricacies of retail payments are obvious difficulties to surmount.
Yet, MiCA stands out from other legislative initiatives in how it tackles stablecoins, of which it distinguishes two types: electronic money (e-money) tokens and asset-referenced tokens. E-money tokens purport to maintain a stable value by referencing to the value of one official currency. As such, they are considered electronic money. Their issuers are limited to credit institutions and electronic money institutions, which must comply with MiCA and the existing provisions in this field. Asset-referenced tokens, on the other hand, are a different kind of animal. These cryptoassets are not e-money tokens and purport to maintain a stable value by referencing to any other value or right, or a combination of both, including one or more official currencies. The composition and administration of the underlying reserve assets thus become key elements and, consequently, MiCA extensively addresses the conditions which should guide their management. As such, the reserve assets may only be invested in highly liquid financial instruments with minimal concentration, credit and market risk. Moreover, MiCA requires that the reserve be managed in such a manner that the liquidity risks associated with the permanent redemption rights of the holders are addressed, and that the risks associated with the assets referenced by the asset-referenced tokens are covered. Finally, in order to protect the interests of token-holders, the reserve will have to be operationally segregated from the issuer's estate. Despite the significant progress achieved, MiCA is unfortunately facing what I hope proves to be one last delay in its adoption process.