In an interview with Bloomberg Wednesday, Lagarde said the digital euro will be rolled out within four years.
Bitcoin's rising price reflects declining faith in the existing financial system. Will central bankers like Christine Lagarde take notice?
In a speech at a Reuters online event Wednesday, Lagarde said bitcoin was a "highly speculative" asset.
Stablecoins could "threaten financial security" if widely adopted, the ECB head said in a magazine interview.
The survey indicates a much more profound change in the way finance works is being contemplated.
A digital euro for retail payments would "ensure that sovereign money remains at the core of European payment systems," according to Legarde.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said a digital euro can place the region at the cutting edge of innovation but it may have fallen behind in the global competition for creating digital payment ecosystems.
Bitcoin suffered its biggest drop in seven years, as fears over the spreading coronavirus triggered a new wave of selling in everything from stocks and junk bonds to cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin prices slid for a fifth straight day, but the bigger news is what the N.Y. Fed and Christine Lagarde's ECB do next.
The working group will pool research into CBDCs.
Lagarde said the ECB will continue researching CBDCs and will not stand in the way of any private initiatives.
Facebook could leverage its social media platform to block out competitors, according to Christine Lagarde.
Decentralized systems are coming for the banks, argued Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, in a panel Wednesday at the International Monetary Fund.
Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, encouraged the exploration of central bank digital currencies in a speech on Wednesday.
IMF head Christine Lagarde has argued that regulators could use blockchain technology itself to regulate cryptocurrencies