A viral video on Tiktok claims that a law prohibiting money would have been adopted in France. In a few days, this sequence rekindled the anxieties around the end of the cash and a fully digitized company. However, this assertion is false, because no law confirms such a ban. Behind this deceptive story, a very real subject deserves attention: the digital euro project carried by the ECB, which aims to complete the species, and not to make them disappear.
In short
- A Tiktok video wrongly claims that a law would prohibit the use of liquid money in France from April.
- This rumor, denied by the absence of an official text, is based on viral content generated by artificial intelligence.
- ECB's digital euro project is very real, but aims to complete the species, not to delete them.
- Silver liquid remains used by a majority of French people and protected by institutions, as the Senate recalled in 2024.
An unfounded rumor relayed massively on social networks
The video at the origin of the controversy crossed the 240,000 views on Tiktok, with a remarkable introduction:
This is confirmed: new law in April, cash will soon be prohibited everywhere in France and Europe.
This content, which evoked An alleged replacement of tickets by the digital euro, is nevertheless devoid of foundation. There is no trace in The list of texts promulgated this month. In addition, the affirmation that “The digital euro will allow you to pay all your purchases without ever using a single ticket” is based on voluntary confusion with already existing tools, such as bank cards.
The research carried out on Tiktok reveals that this type of disinformation is part of a recurring trend, which recycles alarmist narratives since 2023. This recent wave of deceptive content has several characteristics:
- A dubious origin: disseminated by chains that claim to be information, but fueled by content generated via artificial intelligence;
- Rapid proliferation: the subject “Liquid silver prohibition” refers to dozens of viral videos in French;
- A recurrence of the speech: the alarmist messages have been recurrent since last year, despite the absence of a legal basis;
- The manipulation of real facts: the digital euro project is used to credibility a story of deprivation of economic freedom.
Despite the digital excitement, no official declaration or bill confirms this thesis in France. The use of cash remains legal and protected by the French authorities, as recalled by the debates in the Senate. Thus, the use of fear and confusion here seems to be motivated more by the search for clicks than by the dissemination of reliable information.
The digital euro, a complementary tool and not a replacement
Unlike the misleading affirmations disseminated online, the digital euro is not intended to supplant species. The project, carried out by the ECB since 2021, provides for a digital currency intended to coexist with the current means of payment.
According to Official documentsthe objective is to offer a form of additional payment to tickets and parts. ECB's intention is clear:
Guarantee that citizens can continue to access a central bank currency even in the digital age, in order to preserve the freedom of choice of consumers.
From a technical point of view, the digital euro should be free for individuals, usable online as offline, and offer a high level of confidentiality, potentially equivalent to that of cash payments.
Species remain widely used today. According to A report from the ECBthey are tried “Important” Or “Very important” by 60 % of French people. The fear of a forced switch to digital is not corroborated by the facts. However, in the fall of 2024, a French bill which aims to further restrict cash payments was even rejected by the Senate, on the grounds that it would have “Restricted freedom of payment […] and weakened non -banished people “.
In the medium term, the adoption of the digital euro in France could transform certain aspects of banking practices, in particular by reducing dependence on private intermediaries. However, the ECB ensures that it wishes to set up safeguards, especially against excessive transactions surveillance. If the deployment is planned between 2026 and 2027, its success will depend on social acceptance, the confidence of citizens and respect for individual freedoms. In this context, vigilance remains in order, but it should not be dictated by disinformation.
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