European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is considering leaving before her eight-year term ends in October 2027, the Financial Times reported, citing a person “familiar with her thinking.”
Lagarde, who took office in November 2019, is said to be weighing an early exit ahead of France’s April 2027 presidential election so that outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz can agree on a successor, the FT reported Wednesday.
An ECB spokesperson pushed back on the report, telling Cointelegraph: “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term.”
ECB navigates digital euro and MiCA-era stablecoins
Her potential departure would come at a sensitive moment for the ECB’s digital agenda.
Under Lagarde, the ECB has pushed ahead with preparatory work on a digital euro and repeatedly highlighted the need to manage risks from privately issued digital money, including stablecoins, within the new European Union Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) regime.
ECB officials have warned that rapidly growing stablecoins could pose financial stability and monetary policy risks in the euro area, even under MiCA’s safeguards, and have argued for a strong market for well‑regulated euro-denominated stablecoins that can compete with dollar tokens.
Related: Digital euro key to payments sovereignty in ‘weaponised’ world: ECB exec
Lagarde herself has been a vocal critic of Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets, calling them “highly speculative,” and saying in a 2022 television interview that crypto is “worth nothing” and based on no underlying assets, repeating that sentiment even with BTC close to all-time highs in November 2025.
A change at the top of the ECB could impact how the institution communicates on, and prioritizes, issues such as the digital euro, stablecoin oversight and crypto-related payment arrangements, even if the overall regulatory direction is set at the EU level.
Shortlist to replace Lagarde shares cautious line on crypto
Economists polled by the FT in December identified Spain’s former Central Bank Governor Pablo Hernández de Cos and his Dutch counterpart Klaas Knot as leading contenders to replace Lagarde, with ECB Executive Board Member Isabel Schnabel and Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel also seen as potential candidates.
All four have taken cautious stances on crypto. In past speeches, Hernández de Cos has framed crypto assets and stablecoins as a financial stability risk that demands strong regulation and supervision, while Knot has called for a robust global regulatory framework for crypto and stablecoins.
Nagel has linked the push for a digital euro to safeguarding European monetary and financial sovereignty, and has called Bitcoin a “digital tulip” that is “anything but transparent,” warning against treating Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
Related: Crypto’s next battle is privacy, but regulators face chicken-egg dilemma
Schnabel previously described Bitcoin as a “speculative asset without any recognizable fundamental value.”
Digital euro timeline hinges on EU lawmakers
The digital euro project still needs the green light from EU lawmakers, while the ECB has moved into a technical preparation stage and is rolling out collaborations to ensure the digital euro is universally accessible to all.
Despite rumors of a possible early departure of Lagarde, ECB Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone confirmed in a speech on Wednesday that EU co‑legislators were expected to adopt the digital euro regulation in the course of 2026.
He said that would enable a 12‑month pilot in a controlled Eurosystem environment starting in the second half of 2027, with real‑world transactions and a limited group of payment service providers, merchants and Eurosystem staff.
The Eurosystem aims to be ready for a potential first issuance of the digital euro during 2029, assuming the legislative process stays on track.
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