CBDCs in 2026: digital euro advances, UK waits, US says no
Where the digital euro, the digital pound and the US ban on a central bank digital currency stand in October 2026, and what treasuries should watch.
If you run treasury or payments for a business in the euro area, a central bank digital currency could become a payment method you are required to accept by the end of the decade. In the UK it is still an open question, and in the United States federal policy now runs the other way.
A central bank digital currency, or CBDC, is digital money denominated in the national currency that is a direct liability of the central bank, which is how the 2025 US executive order defines it [5]. That makes it different from a stablecoin, which is a liability of a private issuer.
Euro area: legislation in trilogue, pilot planned for 2027
The digital euro needs an EU regulation before it can exist. The Council of the EU agreed its negotiating position in December 2025, and the European Parliament confirmed its own mandate in a plenary vote on 9 July 2026, after the economic and monetary affairs committee voted 43 to 14 with one abstention on 23 June [2]. Negotiations between Parliament, Council and Commission are under way, and ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said on 6 October 2026 that the European Council has asked for them to finish by the end of 2026 [1].
The ECB closed its preparation phase on 30 October 2025 [2]. Its current plan is a 12-month pilot starting in the second half of 2027 and readiness for a potential first issuance during 2029, assuming legislation is adopted in 2026 [3].
Several design points matter to finance teams:
- Acceptance: under the proposal, merchants that accept digital payments would have to accept the digital euro, and banks would have to distribute it [3].
- Fees: the Eurosystem would not charge transaction fees, but payment providers could charge merchants, subject to a price cap [3].
- No interest: like cash, digital euro holdings would earn nothing [3].
- Holding limits: individual holdings would be capped to protect bank deposits. Parliament supports a cap, and the level has not yet been settled between the institutions [2]. At Parliament's request, the ECB modelled hypothetical limits between 500 and 3,000 euros to test the effect on bank balance sheets [1].
- Offline use: the design includes offline payments for poor or no network coverage [3].
The rules for business holdings and the merchant fee cap are part of what the final regulation will settle. Until the text is agreed, treat any specific figure as provisional.
United Kingdom: no decision yet
The Bank of England says it has not decided whether to introduce a digital pound. It is in a design phase, building a blueprint and running experiments through its Digital Pound Lab, with a joint assessment with HM Treasury feeding a decision on next steps in 2026 [4]. Any launch would need a vote in Parliament, and the earliest issuance would be in the second half of this decade [4]. As of mid-October 2026 we did not find a published decision on the Bank's digital pound page.
United States: an executive ban, a bill still pending
An executive order signed on 23 January 2025 bars federal agencies from establishing, issuing or promoting a CBDC in the United States or abroad, unless required by law, and orders any existing plans to be terminated [5]. It also revoked the 2022 executive order on digital assets [5].
Congress has not yet made that permanent. The House passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919) by 219 to 210 on 17 July 2025. According to its sponsor, the bill was later attached to the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act and, as of April 2026, awaited Senate consideration [6]. The bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly or through intermediaries [6]. US policy has instead focused on regulated private stablecoins, covered in our explainer on the GENIUS Act.
How a CBDC might sit in the books
No accounting standard setter has issued guidance specific to holding a CBDC, so treatment is a judgement to discuss with your auditor before any launch. Because a CBDC is designed as a direct central bank liability in the national currency, many will start from the cash and cash equivalents analysis rather than the crypto asset guidance. That is a starting point, not a settled rule, and the final legal terms (holding limits, conversion rights, offline balances) will matter.
Operationally, a digital euro would add another settlement rail to reconcile, with its own fees, refunds and possibly automatic transfers between digital euro and bank accounts if a holding limit is hit.
What to do
- Euro area merchants and platforms: put the digital euro on your 2027 to 2029 payments roadmap and follow the trilogue outcome on acceptance rules and merchant fees.
- Treasury teams: decide in advance which account a CBDC balance would map to, and agree the classification approach with your auditor once the final legal terms are known.
- UK entities: watch for the Bank of England and HM Treasury decision on whether to move beyond the design phase.
- US entities: do not plan for a US CBDC; plan instead around regulated stablecoins and tokenised deposits.
Sources
- Money in the digital age: digital euro, tokenisation and the role of central banks (speech by Piero Cipollone, 6 October 2026) (European Central Bank)
- Legislative Train: Digital euro (European Parliament)
- FAQs on the digital euro (European Central Bank)
- The digital pound (Bank of England)
- Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology (Executive Order, 23 January 2025) (The White House)
- Whip Emmer's CBDC Ban Legislation Sent to Senate (Office of Rep. Tom Emmer, US House of Representatives)
General information for finance teams, current as of publication. Not legal, tax or accounting advice.