According to a report published by the European Central Bank, regulators should limit the use of the digital euro by Europeans to prevent capital flight from deposits in commercial banks. The report was written by a team of experts led by ECB economist Frank Smets.
The authors believe that the optimal amount of digital euros in circulation should be between 15% and 45% of the euro area’s quarterly real gross domestic product (GDP). This is similar to a previous proposal.
European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta has pointed out that keeping digital euro holdings between 1 and 1.5 trillion euros helps avoid potential negative effects on the European financial system and monetary policy. He also noted that this total is comparable to the current holdings of banknotes in circulation. As the population of euro zone countries is currently around 340 million, this would allow for holdings of 3,000 to 4,000 digital euros per person.