Money: Who will make tomorrow's money?

You pay by card, by phone, by transfer. Money already seems digital. Yet a big debate about money is opening.

Today, the money you use comes mainly from two sources: the central bank's banknotes, and private banks' deposits.

The banknote is the only public money you can hold. And its use is shrinking. Hence an idea: a central bank digital currency.

The euro area is preparing a digital euro. It would be the equivalent of a banknote, but on a phone, backed by the central bank.

The argument is efficiency: paying anywhere in the area, fast, free for individuals, even without a regular bank account.

The fear is traceability. A banknote leaves no trace. A digital currency can leave a lot. It all depends on the rules.

Meanwhile, another digital money has grown without waiting: stablecoins. Private tokens, meant to always be worth one dollar.

Their issuer keeps reserves, often short-term government debt. Their total is counted in hundreds of billions of dollars.

For example, an issuer holds one hundred billion dollars of reserves, invested at four per cent.

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It collects four billion dollars a year. Those who hold its tokens often get nothing. It is a very profitable money... for the issuer.

And the promise "one token equals one dollar" only holds if the reserves are there, and available the day everyone wants out.

Europe has regulated these tokens since twenty twenty-four with a rule called MiCA: reserves, transparency, licensing.

These two novelties raise the same question: what happens to banks? It is called disintermediation.

Your deposits are the resource banks use to lend. Take a bank with one hundred million euros of deposits.

If ten per cent leave for a digital currency, it loses ten million of funding. It will have to replace them, at higher cost, or lend less.

The twist: a money that is too successful could weaken lending to households and companies. That is why a cap per person is considered.

Last issue: sovereignty. Being able to pay without depending on another country.

In the euro area, a large share of card payments goes through non-European networks. A business choice, but also a dependence.

Some countries have already been cut off from payment networks by sanctions. It shows the payment pipe is also a tool of power.

A digital euro, or a European payment network, would also be a political answer, not just a technical one.

Efficiency against traceability. Private innovation against stability. Banks against new players. Nothing is settled yet.

Projects, timelines and caps will change. But the underlying question will remain: whom do you trust to hold your money?

Money is not just a technical tool. It is a promise. Knowing who makes it is knowing what it is worth.