Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson warned a United Nations audience on October 2 that he distrusts the European Union's approach to a digital euro, predicting it could enable "asset and transaction discrimination." Speaking at the Future of Money, Governance & the Law Summit in New York, hosted by the Government Blockchain Association at UN headquarters, Hoskinson called for legal safeguards to prevent programmable spending limits.
Hoskinson illustrated his concerns with a hypothetical scenario: "You're going to go to buy some fuel and even though you have €2,000 in your bank account, it's going to decline your card and say, 'Well, I'm sorry. You've already purchased 50 L of petrol this month. You're not allowed to buy anymore.'" He argued that without binding legal protections, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) risk becoming what he termed a "financial panopticon" capable of monitoring and blocking payments.
Current Legal Framework Under Negotiation
The European Commission's 2023 proposal states that the digital euro should not be programmable money. Former European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta also told lawmakers in 2023 that the bank would never limit where, when, or to whom people pay.
However, these commitments remain non-binding. The European Parliament voted 416 to 169 on July 9 to advance trilogue negotiations—closed-door talks between member states and the Commission. A third round of negotiations on September 30 concluded without agreement on merchant fees or holding limits that would cap individual balances.
The European Central Bank plans a 12-month pilot from late 2027, with possible digital euro issuance in 2029. Hoskinson emphasized that only written law would satisfy concerns about potential restrictions, stating critics should "put it in some sort of law that you're not going to do it."
International Comparison
The contrast with the United States underscores the differing regulatory approaches. The US Senate has passed a temporary CBDC ban extending through 2030, while Europe's negotiators continue working to demonstrate that written guarantees can address concerns from those who trust only code-based protections.
