EU lawmakers back plans for digital euro

> EU lawmakers backed plans Tuesday for a digital euro, a project that has split the bloc but has gained greater urgency as Europe seeks to bolster its financial sovereignty.

> Lawmakers voted in favour of two amendments to an annual report on the European Central Bank (ECB), expressing support for the introduction of the digital currency.

> The electronic version of the money used in the 21-nation currency area would be available to use free of charge in shops, online or from person to person.

> “The introduction of a digital euro... is essential to strengthen EU monetary sovereignty, reduce fragmentation in retail payments and support the integrity and resilience of the single market,” one of the amendments said, approved by 438 lawmakers with 158 against.

> First suggested by the ECB, the project has been some six years in the making.

https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/eu-lawmakers-back-plans-for-digital-euro-1571153319
#DigitalEuro #EU #ECB #CBDC #DigitalCurrency #FinancialSovereignty #Eurozone #Fintech

The Register: South Korea enlists AI to spot pump and dump schemes on social media, or in Spam . “South Korea’s government and main stock exchange have developed and deployed AI-powered tools to detect schemes that aim to send the price of cryptocurrencies and shares soaring so that unscrupulous investors can cash in.”

ProPublica: Six Senators Accuse Deputy Attorney General of “Glaring” Crypto Conflict, Cite ProPublica Investigation. “Six senators accused Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this week of having a conflict of interest when he shut down investigations into crypto companies, dealers and exchanges and eliminated an enforcement team dedicated to looking for crypto-related fraud and […]

Gizmodo: It Turns Out Crypto’s Stablecoin Adoption is Around 1% of Previous Estimates. “Raw blockchain transfers are oftentimes pointed to as proof of stablecoin adoption, but the reality is only a small percentage of this activity—around 1% of roughly $35 trillion in total transaction volume—is actually related to real-world payments. This means stablecoin adoption, which the report […]

CoinDesk: One of the oldest NFT trading platform which facilitated over $300 million in sales at its peak shuts down. “Nifty Gateway, an NFT platform, will shut down on February 23, 2026, and has entered withdrawal-only mode, allowing users one month to move their NFTs and funds. The platform, which once facilitated over $300 million in sales, had shifted its focus to building onchain creative […]

Ars Technica: Hacker who stole 120,000 bitcoins wants a second chance—and a security job. “On Thursday, Ilya Lichtenstein, who was at the center of a massive 2016 crypto heist worth billions at the time, wrote online that he is now out of prison and has changed his ways.”

TechSpot: Data shows half of all crypto tokens have gone dark, and 2025 was the worst year yet. “A CoinGecko analysis shows that more than half of all cryptocurrencies ever created have already failed. Of the 20+ million tokens launched between mid-2021 and the end of 2025, 53% are no longer traded, their contracts still float in block explorers but are effectively lifeless.”

RBI proposes linking BRICS digital currencies

https://www.asianhospitality.com/rbi-proposes-linking-brics-digitalcurrency/

#RBI #India #BRICS #BricsNations #DigitalCurrency #Russia #China #Iran #UAE #Indonesia