The European Central Bank is charting an ambitious course for the next decade. By 2029, the ECB aims to roll out a comprehensive digital payment infrastructure powered by the digital Euro—a move that could fundamentally reshape Europe's fintech landscape and challenge the dominance of established players like Visa and Mastercard.

What's particularly striking is the EU's commitment to building this entirely in-house. According to Alessandro Giovannini, the initiative represents a distinctly European solution, with all engineering executed by European teams and distributed through the banking network. This localized approach signals a broader shift: central banks worldwide are recognizing that digital infrastructure is too critical to outsource, especially as the battle between traditional finance and decentralized systems intensifies.