The ECB has been discussing the potential launch of a eurozone central bank digital currency since the beginning of the year.
China’s announcement preceded choppy price moves around $34,000, which left traders with little sense of direction.
Privacy in the digital euro is a focal point for Europeans as are concerns of security and interoperability.
Smaller countries such as Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia would be hit the hardest.
Some analysts predict this rally could push bitcoin past $60,000 for the first time.
The overall program's size was left intact, along with the March 2022 end date, but the pace of stimulus is now set to increase.
The ECB's decision to expand an emergency bond-buying program by €500B may represent the latest installment of years-long balance-sheet increase.
The ECB says the additional monetary policy actions were needed because of a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
Stablecoins could "threaten financial security" if widely adopted, the ECB head said in a magazine interview.
The "priority" research comes as Spain weighs a global pivot to digital economies.
Olli Rehn believes a digital euro "in one form or another" is all but inevitable.
The EU's central bank has laid a claim to the phrase "digital euro" before deciding whether to actually issue one.
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.
Noelle Acheson looks at the evolving role of central banks in the context of the current crisis, and what that could mean for crypto.