The offline digital euro and holding limits: a user-centred approach

The national central banks of the Eurosystem are investigating the possibility of issuing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) – the digital euro – alongside cash. The digital euro would be subject to a holding limit, meaning there would be limit to the amount of digital euro an individual can hold. A holding limit would prevent excessive outflows from the banking system, which could endanger financial stability. For the offline digital euro, a specific consideration for setting a holding limit is also to mitigate anti-money laundering/ countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) risks. At the same time, given that the digital euro is a public means of payment, it is important that everyone is able to use it. A holding limit should therefore not hamper the usability of the digital euro. In existing research on CBDC, this user-centred perspective to holding limits has received limited attention. The added value of this study lies in taking a user-centred perspective. De Nederlandsche Bank conducted an experiment on offline digital euro holding limits among 2, 000 adult participants in the Netherlands.