Early departure of Christine Lagarde: The ECB changes its mind, the digital euro remains under construction

Early departure to Frankfurt. Christine Lagarde will leave the presidency of the European Central Bank on February 7, 2027, the institution announced on October 29. Having taken office on November 1, 2019 for eight years, she will leave almost nine months before the scheduled deadline. The press release does not specify the reasons for this decision and indicates that the Board of Governors gave him a long standing ovation.

For the European crypto sector, this succession concerns two issues in particular: the digital euro, which Christine Lagarde supported during her mandate, and the position of the ECB towards private cryptocurrencies.

Key Points

Christine Lagarde will leave the ECB on February 7, 2027, almost nine months before the scheduled end of her mandate.

The digital euro pilot should begin in the second half of 2027 and last twelve months.

A first issue remains planned for 2029, under legislative conditions and after a decision from the ECB.

The European Council will appoint his successor according to the procedure provided for in Article 283 of the European Treaty.

Christine Lagarde leaves the digital euro in preparation

The outgoing president will leave office several months before the planned launch of the digital euro pilot. The ECB schedules this exercise for the second half of 2027, for a period of twelve months.

The objective is to test an experimental version in concrete situations, notably in-store payments and transfers between individuals. The institution selected 36 payment service providers to participate in the trials.

The calendar aims to prepare for a possible first issue in 2029, in the event that the European regulation is adopted in 2026. The ECB specifies, however, that it will only decide to issue this currency after the adoption of the legislative framework. This deadline therefore constitutes a conditional objective, not a guaranteed launch date.

The departure of Christine Lagarde does not, in itself, allow us to conclude that there will be a postponement. The work is carried out by the Eurosystem, while the European Parliament and the Council are involved in the adoption of the regulation. The ECB also indicates that its preparation must remain adaptable to the legislative process.

Bitcoin and succession: A critical line, with no change announced

Christine Lagarde also leaves a series of critical positions towards cryptocurrencies. In May 2022, on the Dutch show College Tour, she presented them as highly speculative and risky, believing that they were worthless due to the lack of an underlying asset serving as collateral.

In January 2025, she also affirmed her conviction that Bitcoin would not enter the reserves of central banks members of the General Council of the ECB. This statement expressed a position on the management of reserves; it did not constitute a general ban on Bitcoin in Europe.

The designation of his successor belongs to the European Council, united in its composition including the countries of the euro zone. It decides by reinforced qualified majority, on the recommendation of the Council of the European Union, after consultation of the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the ECB. The press release announcing the departure does not name any candidate.