Call for Expressions of Interest to Explore Digital Euro Innovation Platform Activities (ECB)
The European Central Bank (ECB) launched a call for expressions of interest inviting private companies and organizations to collaborate in exploring how the digital euro can foster innovation in the market via two workstreams. The experimentation workstream will explore electronic integrated receipts, multi-payer and conditional payments, and payment-app features. The exploration work stream will explore artificial intelligence in payments and public-sector uses. The work could inform services built on the digital euro’s core infrastructure and possible future design changes. Applications close November 9, 2026, with activities planned for the first half of 2027. [ECB]
Trusted Execution Environments for Central Banks (BIS)
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper that considers what trusted execution environments (TEEs) can responsibly deliver for central banks, the conditions under which they are most effective and how they can be deployed without widening who must be trusted. A TEE is a hardware-anchored, isolated computing space protecting “data in use” via verifiable code authenticity and runtime confidentiality. This capability is critical, enabling institutions to collaboratively analyze sensitive microdata without exposing raw records to peers or infrastructure operators. Yet, significant unresolved vulnerabilities persist, specifically regarding microarchitectural side-channel leakage, host-mediated subversion, and attestation failures. Consequently, TEEs offer conditional assurances rather than absolute security, demanding rigorous, evidence-based governance and layered mitigations to be viable. [BIS]
And some backfilling:
E-Cedi Project Still Active — BoG Governor Assures (BOG)
[May 20, 2026] Bank of Ghana (BOG) Dr. Johnson Asiama assured that the e-cedi project has not been abandoned, despite delays in its rollout, speaking at the 130th Monetary Policy Committee meeting. He explained that the central bank is taking additional time to complete key preparatory stages before fully deploying the initiative. The Bank is prioritizing critical systems and safeguards, particularly cybersecurity resilience, before moving to the next phase of implementation. [BOG]
BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.
FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
