According to a Bundesbank survey, four out of ten Germans can basically imagine using a digital euro in the future.

However, there is still a lot of skepticism about the project being pushed forward by the euro central banks, as the survey published on Monday shows.

More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed stated that they did not support the introduction of a digital euro.

However, in its October monthly report, the Bundesbank points out that “the concept of the digital euro was still largely unknown to the general public at the time of the survey”.

“Convinced cash payers” particularly skeptical

Europe's monetary authorities have been looking into the possible introduction of a digital variant of the European common currency for a while now.

In mid-July 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to take the preparatory work to the next level: In a two-year investigation phase, it is now about technology and data protection.

It has not yet been decided whether a digital euro will come.

“Convinced cash payers in particular are rather skeptical of the digital euro,” the Bundesbank stated.

Almost two thirds (61 percent) of those who expressed their negative opinion in the survey fear that a digital euro would be the starting point for the abolition of cash.

Both the ECB and the Bundesbank have repeatedly assured that a digital euro would come as a supplement to cash, not as a replacement for notes and coins.

What the digital euro should be able to do

From the respondents' point of view, the most important properties of a digital euro include ease of use, protection of privacy, security in terms of data protection and universal applicability.

For many respondents, a digital euro represents an opportunity “to avoid the commercial use of personal data by private sector actors”, reported the Bundesbank.

The work on a digital euro is a response from the euro central banks to the steep rise of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether.

The big difference: In contrast, a digital euro would be under the supervision of a central bank, which ensures the stability of the currency.