While momentum around central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has slowed in parts of the world—particularly in the U.S., where President Trump has publicly opposed their development—the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to push forward with its Digital Euro initiative. In the latest development, COTI has been named a Pioneer Partner in the ECB’s Digital Euro Project, marking a significant step in Europe’s efforts to modernize its financial infrastructure.
According to a press release shared with CryptoPotato, COTI will collaborate with the ECB and other partners to build and test privacy-enhancing solutions for a euro-wide CBDC. The partnership aims to explore how secure, efficient, and private digital payments can be integrated into the European economy.
A Major Role for COTI
COTI, an enterprise-grade fintech platform, will use its expertise to support conditional payments while ensuring that user privacy remains intact. The company will work directly with ECB infrastructure to test privacy protocols designed to verify asset provenance without exposing sensitive user data—a crucial requirement for any scalable CBDC system.
“Being invited to work with the ECB on such a consequential project is humbling and a testament to the expertise and hard work of the COTI team,” said Shahaf Bar-Geffen, COTI CEO and co-founder. “Privacy is a vital component for the future of Web3 and CBDCs alike. It’s critical that confidentiality is built into the core of these new systems.”
Building a Privacy-First CBDC
The Digital Euro is designed to complement physical cash, not replace it, while offering the same levels of privacy, speed, and security in the digital realm. By naming COTI a Pioneer Partner, the ECB signals a commitment to ensuring that privacy is not an afterthought, but rather a fundamental part of the design process.
COTI’s contribution focuses on developing a privacy solution for conditional payments, allowing certain rules to be embedded into transactions without sacrificing confidentiality. The goal is to maintain user trust and regulatory compliance simultaneously.
COTI’s Growing CBDC Credentials
This isn’t COTI’s first foray into CBDC development. The company previously collaborated with the Bank of Israel on its Digital Shekel initiative, where it developed a proof-of-concept for secure, trustless cross-border payments using advanced cryptographic tools like garbled circuits.
The company also launched its V2 developer network last year, further reinforcing its capabilities in blockchain-based financial innovation.
With COTI named a Pioneer Partner in the ECB’s Digital Euro Project, the collaboration represents not just a milestone for the company, but a meaningful advance in Europe’s journey toward launching a secure and privacy-preserving digital currency.
