The European Central Bank is accelerating the development of wholesale CBDC platforms

According to Cointelegraph, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expanding the development of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) payment system to settle transactions between institutions, as announced on February 20th. The establishment of the new system will be carried out in two stages. Firstly, a CBDC settlement platform will be developed, while the second phase involves deeper integration with existing ECB systems, such as the foreign exchange trading market. Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Committee of the European Central Bank and a central bank official responsible for overseeing wholesale CBDC programs, stated that the program will help achieve a "more coordinated and integrated European financial ecosystem".