[ECB: Digital Euro to be Piloted in the Second Half of 2027, Launched in 2029] According to Jinse Finance, on October 26th, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated in an interview with the Italian newspaper *La Gazzetta dello Sport* that Europe needs to build its own payment infrastructure to reduce its reliance on foreign payment service providers; however, he clarified that this does not mean excluding international service providers. According to his data, online payments accounted for 24% of total payments in Italy in 2024, compared to 6% in 2019, with two-thirds of online card payments relying on non-European card organizations; small merchants face fees up to four times higher than large merchants. The digital euro will have a statutory fee cap, support offline payments, set a wallet holding limit but no spending cap, with excess amounts deducted from linked bank accounts. The ECB has selected 36 payment service providers (including 7 Italian institutions) to participate in a 12-month pilot program starting in the second half of 2027. ECB staff and employees of 19 national central banks have completed personal transfers, physical store transactions, and online transactions using a test version, which will not have currency status. Cipolone stated that he hopes the EU legislature will pass the regulations by the end of 2026, after which the Council can decide on the release; if passed this year, the technical aspects could be online in 2029.