A decision on a digital Euro will be made in the next few months-but the actual release of such a currency could take years, European Central Bank boss Chirstine Lagarde said today. The ECB president told Bloomberg that the whole process of developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could take at least another four years, though the Bank plans to make a decision on whether to move on the initiative by "mid-2021." A CBDC is a digital version of a fiat currency (in this case, the euro) that is backed by a central bank. Countries around the world are currently researching the benefits of developing such an asset. She said that the ECB would make a decision soon on whether to actually release a CBDC. After all, that "mid-2021" target is only three months away. If lawmakers give the green light, work on developing the technology will then start.