ECB's Cipollone eyes 2029 for digital euro launch

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank eyes 2029 as a realistic timeline for launching a digital euro, essentially an online payment wallet backed by the central bank, ECB board member Piero Cipollone said on Tuesday.

Cipollone said the European Parliament, the European Council and the executive European Commission may have their respective positions ready by May, after which they will start joint work on legislation. Once that is in place, the ECB will need between 2-1/2 and three years to launch the currency.