The European Central Bank (ECB) announced the winners of the €1.16 billion ($1.36 billion) in contracts for outsourcing digital euro development. The ECB first announced these tender tasks in January 2024. There are two winners for each of the five contracts in the table below, but the second is designated as a fallback supplier.
These contracts were awarded despite uncertainty over the project’s future. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) project is coming to the end of the two year preparation phase. No decision has yet been made to proceed to the next phase as the ECB requires supporting legislation to proceed. However, at this week’s Sibos conference, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel described the digital euro as the Eurosystem’s most important project. The ECB hopes to see legislation by April 2026 which would support a digital euro launch in 2029 at the earliest.
Given that digital euro legislation has not yet been agreed, no payments are being made at this stage. The contracts also may be adjusted based on requirements in legislation.
By far the largest and most complex contract is for the offline CBDC solution with a maximum budget of €662 million. Central bank service provider Giesecke+ Devrient was the winner, and the second company has not yet been announced. Only four companies tendered, reflecting the limited number of firms with these capabilities. The other high profile firm that provides offline capabilities is IDEMIA.
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