PwC Predicts Digital Euro Will Cost €18 Billion: Why Bitcoin is Better, Cheaper & Safer

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has just released its Digital Euro Cost Study, which estimates the costs involved in introducing a digital euro at €18B, most of which will be borne by local retail banks.

Commissioned by several European banking associations (EACB, EBF, ESBG), the findings reiterate what Bitcoin maximalists have been saying forever: why not just use Bitcoin?

Unlike a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Bitcoin offers lower costs, quicker transactions, enhanced security and privacy, and it’s a household name in contemporary financial culture.

Also, as the first and still the biggest decentralized cryptocurrency, $BTC lets ordinary people participate in building out and profiting from the financial infrastructure of the future.

This article digs into PwC’s findings and recommendations. It also gets into the wider digital currency debate and investigates why many still see Bitcoin as the best digital currency.

Finally, we’ll look at several ways for just about anyone to capitalize on Bitcoin’s growth.

The ECB Case for a Digital Euro

The European Central Bank (ECB) believes a digital euro will reinforce Europe’s financial independence while securing the central bank’s place in an increasingly digitalized economy.

And the EU is not alone. Most countries have flirted with the idea of a CBDC at one point or another.

With cash usage declining, a secure digital version of the euro — one that isn’t reliant on foreign tech and payment providers — would help the ECB retain control over the euro zone’s monetary system.

Citizens and businesses would surely welcome a public digital payment method that works as legal tender, is as easy to use as cash, and is accepted across the entire eurozone.

On the other hand, local retail banks and branches were concerned that the brunt of the change would fall on them, which is why they commissioned PwC to calculate the costs.

PwC Digital Euro Cost Study: Costs and Concerns

The Digital Euro Cost Study was commissioned to work out what introducing the digital euro across the euro area would cost retail banks. Here’s what they found:

• High Upfront Costs: Implementing the digital euro could cost over €2B, a bill the 19 participating banks would have to foot, averaging €110M per bank. If introduced in all euro area banks, estimated costs lie between €18B and €30B, and that’s just accounting for the initial “change costs”, not the running costs beyond the initial four-year launch period.

  

• Heavy Technical Demands: About 75% of costs involve complex technical upgrades to apps, ATMs, POS terminals, backend systems, etc.
• Human Resource and Operational Challenges: The project will require nearly 46% of the skilled personnel annually, potentially stifling innovation in other areas. Concerns were also raised around the cost of ATM upgrades, branch roles in deployment, physical digital euro cards, and compliance.
• Anti-Competition: There are also concerns about how it might potentially overlap with, and crowd out, existing payment systems like cards, wallets, and apps.

The PwC recommends that the ECB provide retail banks with a clear compensation model and cost-benefit analysis to ensure they don’t have to bear an unfair load of the change costs.

The Case for Bitcoin

Bitcoin maximalists would argue that a CBDC is unnecessary and a step backward, and that Bitcoin is superior to a central bank digital currency in almost every respect.

For one thing, Bitcoin is anti-deflationary. Its fixed supply of 21M $BTC makes it immune to the government policies that erode the value of fiat currencies.

Indeed, as the very embodiment of decentralized, Bitcoin is free from central bank control and political influence.

Unlike a digital euro, which would be issued, regulated, and monitored by the ECB. Bitcoin champions freedom and privacy — blockchain transactions don’t lead back to your personal identity.

The best part is that Bitcoin welcomes anyone, not just the banks, to build on its infrastructure and profit from their participation.

Invest Now in the Bitcoin Economy

Whether the digital euro comes to pass, $BTC shows no signs of slowing. From Strategy to Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and JPMorgan, the world’s biggest asset managers and payment providers are putting their past grievances behind them and going all in on crypto.

National Bitcoin reserves are on the agenda, from the US to El Salvador, to Russia, and crypto is breaking into the Nasdaq, as it cleans up its image and takes on Wall Street.

In a Bitcoin-led economy, related DeFi projects can also carve out a niche while offering a low-cap entry point for retail investors who want a piece of action.

Below, we explore why these are some of the best presales to buy now.

1. Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) — Layer 2 Blockchain Unleashing Bitcoin’s Utility

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is the Layer-2 upgrade Bitcoin Maximalists have long been asking for.

It helps Bitcoin compete with fast chains like Solana. And it lets developers and everyday people use $BTC in new and varied ways, from making instant payments to DeFi, NFTs, and even online gaming.

As it stands, Bitcoin’s sluggish speed, high fees, heavy congestion, and limited scalability have prevented its usefulness as legal tender for daily payments.

Bitcoin Hyper uses the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) for lightning-fast execution of smart contracts, boosting scalability and delivering transaction speeds and fees on par with Solana.

Layer 2 transactions are then batched and compressed for near-instant finality and confirmation on the main net.

Thanks to real-time synchronization between Bitcoin Hyper’s Layer-2 and Bitcoin’s Layer-1, everything is always 100% transparent and secure.

The project has been in presale since May 16, 2025, and has already accumulated over $1.3M.

Today, $HYPER is priced at $0.011925 and offers a 560% staking APY. Our price prediction forecasts a high of $0.90, giving a potential ROI of 7,494% from the current price.

You can get in at the official $HYPER presale page, or read our guide on how to buy $HYPER for more information.

2. Best Wallet Token — You Can Bet on People Needing a Good, Private Wallet

Another way to back a Bitcoin-based financial system is to invest in the growth of a top new crypto wallet, Best Wallet.

A challenger brand in the non-custodial crypto wallet space, Best Wallet enables seamless cross-chain swaps with the lowest fees and the best exchange rates.

Aside from just trading and storing your crypto safely in Best Wallet, buying and holding its native Best Wallet Token ($BEST) lets you ride its success as the demand for crypto wallets continues to grow.

You’ll also enjoy higher staking rewards, reduced on-chain transaction fees, community governance rights, and early access to upcoming projects.

The presale has already raised over $13.3M with 25M+ tokens staked, showing strong confidence in the project’s ambition to take 40% of the crypto wallet market by 2026.

Our price prediction for $BEST anticipates that the token could reach $0.006467 by the end of the year 2025, for an ROI of 152% of today’s price.

Find out how to buy $BEST and join the staking pool today, or read our complete Best Wallet review for more information on this powerful new Bitcoin wallet.

You Can’t Beat Bitcoin

The PwC report confirms that Bitcoin is best for everyone but the central bank, and you can’t lose investing in Bitcoin and related infrastructure like Bitcoin Hyper and Best Wallet Token.

As always, however, this is not financial advice, and you should DYOR before making any investment.