ECB has lobbied for a digital alternative to the euro for several years, to reduce the euro zone's dependence on non-European companies such as Visa and Paypal.
The emergence of cryptocurrencies linked to the US dollar, so-called stablecoins, has further fueled ECB.
Cipollone says that the euro zone's finance ministers have agreed on an upper limit for the amounts that customers should have in their digital wallet. The idea is to prevent too large outflows from banks.
What the limit has been set at, Cipollone does not say, but he calls it a "major breakthrough".
Discussions between member states are going very well, he says.
How the currency will work technically is not decided, but one option is to use the so-called blockchain technology, like today's cryptocurrencies. The value should, however, always correspond to the value of a regular euro.
But to introduce a digital currency, regardless of how, new legislation must be adopted in the EU Parliament - and that is expected to take time.
