TechFlow News, February 18: According to Cointelegraph, the Financial Times, citing informed sources, reported that European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is considering stepping down before the end of her term—originally scheduled for October 2027—to allow French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to reach consensus on her successor. This potential timing may align with France’s presidential election in April 2027. An ECB spokesperson subsequently responded that Lagarde is “fully focused on her duties and has made no decision regarding the end of her term.”
During her tenure, Lagarde has vigorously advanced preparations for the digital euro and repeatedly stressed the need for risk oversight of privately issued stablecoins under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. She has long held a critical stance toward Bitcoin and publicly labeled crypto assets as “worthless.” Should she depart early, the ECB’s official positions on the digital euro rollout, stablecoin regulation, and crypto payment arrangements could shift.
As previously reported by the Financial Times, leading candidates for her successor include former Governor of the Bank of Spain Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of De Nederlandsche Bank Klaas Knot, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel, and President of the Deutsche Bundesbank Joachim Nagel—all of whom have adopted cautious positions toward crypto assets.
The digital euro project remains pending approval by EU legislative bodies; the Eurosystem expects to complete its initial issuance around 2029 at the earliest.
