The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected COTI Network as an exploration sandbox for its digital euro project, Cryptopolitan.com reported. The ECB selected several Pioneer Partners from the private sector to work out potential solutions for the digital euro. COTI Network was singled out for having experience with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), after an exploratory program with the Central Bank of Israel. COTI represents private crypto entities, as the ECB tapped multiple companies to explore all stages of deploying a digital euro.

Consumer-price inflation in the eurozone remained just above the European Central Bank’s target in April, teeing up more interest-rate cuts as policymakers anticipate a hit to growth from higher U.S. tariffs and growing uncertainty, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 2.2% higher on year in April, a rate of annual inflation that stayed steady from a month earlier, European Union figures showed Friday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had estimated annual inflation at 2.1% for the month.

A nascent recovery in Europe's real estate market has been derailed by global economic uncertainty in the early months of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, leading deal volumes to shrink after a positive run last year, MSCI data shows, Reuters reported. Property sales in Europe totalled 41 billion euros ($47 billion) in the first quarter of this year, down 11% on the previous year and breaking a run of three consecutive quarters of annual increases, the data showed.

Britain is to restrict consumers' use of credit cards to buy crypto and their access to crypto lending products, the regulator said on Friday, a move aimed at improving protection as cryptoassets are regulated for the first time, Reuters reported. The finance ministry this week said it would bring cryptocurrencies under compulsory regulation, with exchanges, dealers and issuers all coming under the existing rulebook.

German battery pioneer CustomCells has filed for insolvency proceedings for the group’s key operating entities located in Itzehoe and Tübingen, BatteriesNews.com reported. The competent court in Kiel has appointed attorney Dr. Malte Köster, a partner at the law firm WILLMERKÖSTER, as the preliminary insolvency administrator of the operating companies. WILLMERKÖSTER is one of the leading insolvency law firms in Germany. The holding company of the CustomCells Group is not affected by the insolvency filing at this time.

The Bank of England is expected to lower interest rates by a quarter point on May 8 as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs darken the global growth outlook, and some economists think the BoE will soon need to speed up its gradual approach to rate cuts, Reuters reported. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, speaking in Washington last week after the International Monetary Fund downgraded UK and global growth prospects, said he was taking "very seriously" the risks posed by Trump's tariffs.

European carmakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Volkswagen, said Wednesday that the chaos and upheaval caused by the tariffs introduced by President Trump had left them struggling to assess the impact and unable to plan for the future, the New York Times reported. After years of sluggish demand and high inflation, Europe’s carmakers headed into 2025 with a raft of new battery-powered models and high hopes that they would lure back customers. Instead, they are faced with global uncertainty surrounding supply chains and customer demand, set off by Mr.

A cryptoasset business registered in the UK has been shut down after people from multiple countries said they paid for crypto mining services but did not receive the promised financial returns and were unable to withdraw their assets, according to a U.K. Insolvency Service press release. BTCMining Limited claimed to operate a cryptoasset mining business, where customers would pay the company to mine crypto and receive any resulting income.