Digital Euro Association: Think Tank for Digital Money
The Digital Euro Association (DEA) is a Frankfurt think tank for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, crypto assets, and other forms of digital money. Its main topic is the digital euro. The DEA is a registered association (e.V.) and is independent of the Eurosystem.
Its members include banks, asset managers, consultancies, and technology firms such as Union Investment, Raiffeisen Bank International, KPMG, d-fine, Ripple, and BitGo. The DEA is a strategic partner of Finance Loop, which connects the finance, IT, and AI communities in Frankfurt and across Europe.
Public and Private Digital Euro
The DEA works on two forms of digital money in euros. The public digital euro is a CBDC that the European Central Bank is preparing: the ECB aims to be ready to issue it in 2029 if EU legislation is adopted in 2026. The private digital euro covers euro stablecoins and other tokens that private issuers bring to market under the EU regulation MiCA (MiCAR).
On both, the DEA publishes policy briefs, research and working papers, a MiCAR Tracker, and quarterly insights. It runs a podcast, working groups, and a Stablecoin Committee, and it teaches the basics in the Digital Money Academy, with one course on CBDCs and one on stablecoins.
Digital Euro Conference in Frankfurt
The DEA organizes the Digital Euro Conference (DEC), its yearly conference in Frankfurt. On , the DEC brought together people from central banks, commercial banks, fintechs, technology providers, academia, and public institutions; the DEA counts more than 20 central banks among them. Topics range from the design of the digital euro and wholesale CBDC to programmable money, privacy, and offline payments.
Finance Loop was a partner of DEC 2026. The next Digital Euro Conference, DEC 2027, is on , in Frankfurt. Besides the conference, the DEA runs webinars and networking events and publishes past panels on YouTube.
Finance Loop and the DEA
Finance Loop and the Digital Euro Association have been strategic partners since November 2025. The partnership covers knowledge exchange and networking between people from the industry, policymakers, and regulators on the digital euro, stablecoins, and other digital money.
The DEA was co-founded by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center. Its address is Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz 6 in central Frankfurt, next to the Hauptwache.