"It didn’t go unnoticed in Frankfurt that Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in Russia in March 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine……Thirteen of the 20 countries in the euro have no domestic card scheme. You use an international operator, or you pay in cash."
It hasn't gone unnoticed that the US is threatening to invade an EU country's (Denmark) territory, either. Would a future President Trump or President Vance threaten to shut down European financial infrastructure if it opposes an annexation of Greenland? Who knows, but better to take away that opportunity for leverage.
The plan is that you can link it to your bank account or open a special account at post offices throughout the EU. There will be phone apps for payments and digital Euro debit cards. Visa/Mastercard & Apple/Google Pay typically charge 3% fees; the digital Euro will have none. That will ensure it is speedily adopted by retailers and quickly supplants the US providers. Also worth noting its technology will be 100% European only, leaving zero vulnerability/leverage to non-Europeans.
Digital euro: what it is and how we will use the new form of cash - The European Central Bank is determined to break the US grip on card payments
We've been hearing about the Digital Euro for years. Is it finally happening?
Trump really is the great unifyer, goddamn
Sorry to be an ass and english is a weird language but it's spelled as unifier, unify doesn't become unifyer. Why? Because it's a piece of shit language that's why.
Unifyer: Portmanteau of Groyper and Unifier. Invented at the end of 2025 CE, it came to represent the abhorrent character of Fascist leaders like Donald Trump uniting opposing political powers that would normally bicker.
I like that. It should be a thing.
I’ll be the enlightened centrist here: yes, let’s all try to spell words correctly, and no, do not unpromptedly correct other people’s spelling if you understood what they meant
if you understood what i was trying to communicate it was spelled correctly
Soo juu dunt tink deres a wright or rong whey too spel wrods?
nope
Question: true or false?
Answer: yes
👍
Question: you don't believe in the flying spaghetti monster or that the moon landings were faked?
Perfectly acceptable answer grammatically: No.
That's not how spelling works.
Y u mad tho
Eh, it pretty much is. Language is fluid and constantly changing, there isn't really anything "right" or "wrong". What's "correct" in a language is essentially what people speak and write
Sure, you have dictionaries and grammar rules and such, but they're not prescriptive, they're descriptive
Soo juu dunt tink deres a wright or rong whey too spel wrods?
Depends on your definition, but so long as it's understandable, yeah
I mean, what are dialects, for example?
I'm familiar with the argument but I disagree with it. Every person learning a language disagrees with it. And every instructor I've had disagrees with it. The only people who seem to agree are the same people who misuse the language.
That's a very strong use of "every". English isn't my primarily language either, you know
And no, in fact, I've heard most people who have a degree en english, linguistics, whatever, to disagree with your position. Language is how it's used, not what it's supposed to be. Otherwise we would always have had one singular language, forever, and no dialects either
Do you always use literally literally, and are you careful not to talk about the enormity of perfectly innocent large things?
Language changes. People make mistakes. Neither is worth getting too upset about.
unless your a silly frenchmen, trying to impose order upon chaos
Can't resist correcting "you're"! Sorry sorry sorry.
The US-based financial sector fights it tooth-and-claw at every opportunity. I suspect this kind of legislation is an absolute cash-cow for lobbyists across the continent, in the same way the PPACA made a bunch of influential DC firms incredibly rich.
But can the ECB actually deliver on a useful and efficient method of continent-wide banking in practice? Fingers crossed, I guess. I just wouldn't hold my breath.
there’s a bunch of FOSS work happening. i believe GNU Taler is specifically this. it’s being funded by the EU
I hope it sees full implementation
and then wide scale adoption across the globe