Germany CBDC Tracker

Germany currently appears to be in the pilot phase.

Note: This page is dedicated to the work done by the government in Germany. However, Germany is a member of the European Union and Eurozone. If the European Central Bank launches a CBDC (referred to as a digital euro), then this page will be changed to reflect that. Until then, the Eurozone page has notes about the development of the digital euro.

CBDC History and Development

Burkhard Balz, member of the executive board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, delivered a speech in 2021 saying, “CBDCs are one of the most exciting developments facing central banks today – not just in Europe, but worldwide.” Balz then went on to describe questions that must first be considered and cautioned that “central banks would be well-advised to be diligent and take their time.” However, near the end of his speech, he revealed that “experimental work is currently supporting the analysis of possible technical designs of a digital euro and their implications.” Therefore, although it is unclear exactly what is taking place, Germany is considered to be in the pilot phase.

The Deutsche Bundesbank participated alongside the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Banque de France in Swift’s CBDC sandbox in 2023. The sandbox was used to test solutions for interlinking CBDCs.

In 2024, the Deutsche Bundesbank announced that it partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a joint CBDC research project. The project is meant to investigate technologies that might be used for the design of a CBDC. However, Deutsche Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel later clarified that a digital euro is unlikely to be launched before 2028.

Later in 2024, Deutsche Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel said, “We need to decide whether to issue CBDC for the general public or for payment professionals like financial institutions.” Noting that the public is largely unaware of the European Central Bank’s CBDC development, president Nagel said, “As long as the final decision on the digital euro has not been taken, it makes little sense for the Eurosystem to launch a large-scale public awareness drive.”

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

According to Freedom House, Germany ranks highly across nearly all metrics. Furthermore, it must be said that the ability of the German government to abuse a CBDC directly is debatable because the CBDC that would be used in Germany would be provided by the European Central Bank—representing the European Union. Even then, however, it’s important to recognize that the creation of a CBDC could open the door to risks to financial privacy and financial freedom.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.