I am pleased to open the 2026 Innovation Financial Forum.
Several months ago, Bulgaria adopted the euro and is now a full participant in the Eurosystem. The question is no longer whether Bulgaria belongs to the European financial architecture, but how we will use it to foster greater trust, competitiveness and resilience.
This question arises at a time when the environment is exceptionally complex. In a world experiencing energy and geopolitical shocks, fragmentation and technological transformation, stability requires not automatic reactions, but judgment, scenario planning and discipline.
The digitalisation of finance is moving beyond the automation of existing processes and the creation of electronic channels toward something fundamentally new – a change in the infrastructure of money, payments, settlement and financial assets.
Technological developments must be viewed within a broader context. The digital euro, distributed ledger technology (DLT), asset tokenisation, electronic money and artificial intelligence (AI) are not separate topics. They are different manifestations of a wider transformation that poses a fundamental question: how innovation can be used to increase efficiency without undermining stability and trust?
In the euro area, this transformation begins with the role of the single currency. The digital euro is part of the effort to ensure that central bank money remains accessible in the digital economy, complementing cash and securing trust in the payment system. It should be considered alongside the development of instant payments, European payment integration and the need for resilience and strategic autonomy.
At the same time, DLT and tokenisation raise new questions for financial markets. Asset tokenisation may change the way financial instruments are issued, transferred, collateralised and executed. The potential benefits are significant: faster settlement, greater traceability, automated processes, improved integration between assets and payments and opportunities for new models of market infrastructure. However, the lack of interoperability and reliable settlement of asset tokenisation may lead to new fragmentation.
Therefore, the role of central bank money remains crucial in tokenised markets as well. If the settlement of DLT-based transactions is carried out solely through private forms of money, questions arise regarding liquidity, credit risk and the preservation of confidence that these forms can be reliably exchanged at face value for central bank money. This is where the Eurosystem Pontes programme comes into play, aiming to connect market DLT platforms with a secure public settlement asset (the TARGET system).
A clear distinction must be made between the different forms of digital money. Electronic money is already a familiar part of the payment environment – it is a form of monetary value used for payments and linked to an issuer. Stablecoins also seek to maintain a stable value, but they may have different legal, reserve and governance profiles. Tokenised deposits represent another possibility – a digital representation of electronic money that can be used within a DLT environment. Central bank money and central bank digital currency (CBDC) have a different status because they are public money and perform the essential function of supporting trust and final settlement.
This distinction is important not only from a legal perspective, but also from an economic one. Different forms of digital money can perform different functions, but a sustainable system requires clarity regarding who bears the risk, how exchange at face value is guaranteed, how reserves are managed, how consumers are protected and how trust in money will be preserved. Public and private money should complement one another within a framework that safeguards trust.
Against this backdrop, AI is viewed as an important but complementary technology. Banks have been using machine learning (ML) for years for data analysis, risk management, credit assessment, fraud detection and anti-money laundering activities. What is new about AI and large language models (LLMs) is that they are transforming the interaction between customers, employees, documents, regulations and internal systems. This may improve automation and access to information, but it also requires data management, transparency, accountability, cybersecurity and human oversight.
For the banking sector, this means an active rather than a passive role. Banks will act as intermediaries in the distribution of the digital euro, participants in new models of tokenised money and assets, and the major channel for maintaining the link between public and private money. They will need to invest in technological readiness, data management and cybersecurity, while preserving their core function – creating trust.
Ultimately, the future of finance will depend on the ability to build an infrastructure in which digital money, tokenised assets, DLT platforms, AI tools and the banking sector operate within a compatible and reliable framework. The real challenge is not simply to digitalise finance, but to preserve the trust on which it is based.
I wish the forum success and a meaningful discussion on the next phase of financial transformation in Europe and Bulgaria.