The European Central Bank (ECB), the euro area’s central bank, has published a progress report on the digital euro preparation phase, covering offline functionality, privacy mechanisms and holding limits. The update reflects continued technical and design work but does not represent final political approval to issue the digital euro, which depends on the wider European legislative and political process. The preparation phase addresses technical design, rulebooks, user experience, privacy protections and distribution models. Offline payments could support transactions during outages, emergencies, in remote areas and for small payments, while requiring safeguards against double-spending, privacy risks and synchronization problems. Privacy remains central to public acceptance as policymakers balance anti-money-laundering controls with users’ expectations, banks’ funding concerns and merchants’ demand for low-cost payments. Holding limits could reduce the risk of deposits moving from commercial banks into central bank money. The digital euro would be central bank money rather than Bitcoin, Ethereum or a permissionless stablecoin, although the project keeps digital settlement and programmable payment infrastructure prominent in policy debates. The digital euro has not launched and remains politically incomplete, while preparation continues to shape choices that could affect Europe’s future payments landscape.