The euro as a precursor to Bitcoin

The deadline for European institutions to be compliant with the Single European Payment Area (SEPA) standard came and went on August 1.

In theory, that means anyone in Europe should from now on be able to make and receive payments across the union on an entirely frictionless basis. For the euro project it’s the realisation of one of the system’s key objectives.

As the ECB noted:

It allows businesses to grow and to broaden their reach within Europe, and reduces costs by providing a standardised framework for all their payments. Businesses can now use a single system and set of accounts for all their euro trade in Europe.