Sweden's Riksbank asks parliament to begin e-krona legislation as stablecoins and digital euro advance
Sweden’s Riksbank asks parliament to begin e-krona legislation as stablecoins and digital euro advance #
Sweden’s central bank has formally asked the country’s parliament to begin preparing the legal groundwork for a potential digital krona, warning that the growing use of dollar-pegged stablecoins and the European Central Bank’s plans for a digital euro could gradually erode demand for the Swedish currency.
The Riksbank submitted its request in a letter to the Riksdag’s Committee on Finance, calling for a public inquiry into what legislative changes a digital krona, long referred to as the e-krona, would require. The bank stopped short of recommending that Sweden actually issue one, noting that such a decision would require parliamentary consent under the Sveriges Riksbank Act. The central bank’s argument is that preparatory work needs to start now because implementation by the Riksbank and the broader payments market would take at least five years, separate from the time required to pass any new laws.
The Riksbank pointed to competitive pressure from cross-border payment instruments as part of its case for urgency. According to its own survey data, just 5% of Swedish consumers used cash for their most recent in-store purchase in 2025, down from 10% in 2023, one of the lowest rates in the world. Deputy Governor Per Jansson cautioned that if Swedish kronor are not available in a convenient digital form, the currency may struggle to compete, particularly as dollar-backed stablecoins now collectively exceed $250 billion in market value.
The Riksbank also cited the ECB’s digital euro project as an important factor in its assessment. The ECB is targeting a potential launch around 2029, and the Riksbank’s letter noted that a Swedish e-krona could in principle be built on the same infrastructure by agreement with the ECB. That design choice has not been formally adopted.
The Riksbank’s current position differs from a 2023 government inquiry titled “The State and Payments,” which found no sufficiently strong societal need for an e-krona at that time and made no legislative proposals for its introduction. The bank now argues that rapidly changing payments behavior and rising security risks, including cyberattacks, military threats, and the possibility of power outages disrupting digital payments, justify a reassessment.
The Riksdag’s Finance Committee acknowledged receipt of the letter, though its minutes did not record approval of a formal inquiry. The next move remains political, with the Riksbank stating it is prepared to provide technical support whenever lawmakers decide to act.
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