Sweden revisits digital krona as ECB advances digital euro plans

Sweden’s Riksbank has recommended that lawmakers prepare for a possible digital krona, citing concerns over foreign-currency stablecoins and the future of domestic payments. Sweden’s central bank is revisiting the possibility of introducing a digital krona, citing the European Central Bank’s (ECB) progress toward a digital euro and the growing use of stablecoins as reasons to reconsider a central bank digital currency (CBDC).In an Oct. 7 letter to parliament’s Finance Committee, published Thursday, the Riksbank urged lawmakers to begin preparing legislation for a potential digital krona, three years after a government inquiry concluded there was insufficient need for one.The letter pointed to the ECB’s planned digital euro pilot in 2027 and a potential public launch in 2029. According to the Riksbank, Sweden’s payment system could become less competitive without a comparable digital version of its own currency.The central bank also identified the growing use of foreign-currency stablecoins, particularly those pegged to the US dollar, as a longer-term concern, though it sees the near-term risk as limited.“If stablecoins pegged to foreign currencies are considered attractive as a mea...