ECB President Lagarde Warns Europe Risks Losing Payment Sovereignty; Digital Euro Key to Regaining Control

According to Finance Feeds, ECB President Christine Lagarde warned on June 16 that Europe faces the risk of losing payment sovereignty as U.S. dollar stablecoins and foreign networks dominate future financial infrastructure. International card organizations account for over 60% of European card payments, while 13 of the 21 eurozone countries no longer maintain national card schemes.

Lagarde stated that the digital euro can break this pattern due to its legal tender status and mandatory acceptance across Europe. She emphasized that tokenized finance requires central bank currency to scale safely, with market participants indicating they will not issue digital assets at scale without central bank settlement infrastructure.