PANews reported on April 3rd, citing Bloomberg, that European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated that the digital euro project is "moving well" and could be launched in July 2029. He noted that sufficient consensus has been reached at the legislative level, and banks' interest in participating in the pilot program is increasing. The ECB plans to launch a 12-month pilot phase in the second half of 2027. Cipollone anticipates that if legislation is in place by the end of this year, the digital euro will be issued in July 2029, and he currently sees no major obstacles. ECB officials have previously expressed concerns about reliance on US payment companies such as Visa and Mastercard, as well as the US dollar-pegged stablecoin supported by Trump.