According to the source, the European Central Bank said a digital euro could make a formal rollout in 2029, setting a multi-year policy timeline for EU retail CBDC deployment, source: European Central Bank. The ECB previously launched a two-year preparation phase in October 2023 to draft a rulebook and run prototyping, outlining the procedural path toward potential issuance, source: European Central Bank. In parallel, the EU’s MiCA framework began applying to stablecoins in 2024, defining authorization and reserve standards that will shape euro-denominated stablecoin competition alongside any CBDC, source: European Commission. Traders can track ECB milestones such as rulebook completion and pilot outcomes as catalysts for EU payments infrastructure and euro stablecoin market structure, source: European Central Bank.