Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated in a speech titled "Digitalisation of Money, Payments and Finance" that the digital euro pilot project will last 12 months and launch in the second half of 2027. The ECB aims to prepare for a potential inaugural digital euro issuance, targeting 2029. He emphasized that the digital euro will serve as a form of digital cash for everyday payments, usable both online and offline within the Eurosystem, complementing cash payments and offering freedom of choice between cash and digital payments. Banks will play a key role in the distribution of the digital euro and will be compensated accordingly. Furthermore, the ECB is exploring tokenized central bank money (Pontes & Appia) for wholesale transactions to provide a risk-neutral settlement anchor, supporting the integration of digital asset markets.