Glossary
Holding limit
The holding limit caps how many digital euro you may hold. The amount for individuals is still undecided; businesses have a holding limit of zero.
Definition
Holding limit
The holding limit is the cap on how much digital euro a user may hold at once. It is the single most consequential number in the whole design — and it is the one number nobody can tell you yet.
The amount is not decided
The scheme rulebook does not set the figure. The section covering how the holding limit functions and is enforced is explicitly marked as something to be detailed in later iterations. Any specific euro amount you see quoted today is speculation, not specification.
What is settled is that a limit exists, and that PSPs must enforce it.
Individuals versus businesses
The rule differs sharply by user type — which is exactly why the DEAN carries an indicator digit telling you which kind of account you are looking at.
| Individual | Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Holding limit | An amount, still to be determined | Zero |
| Linked account | Optional | Mandatory |
| Number of accounts | One | Unlimited |
| Aliases | One optional phone-number alias | None |
A business holding limit of zero is not a restriction bolted on as an afterthought — it is the core of the design. Merchants are not meant to hold central bank digital money; they receive it and it moves straight on to their commercial bank account.
How the limit is enforced
The limit is not enforced by rejecting payments. It is enforced by automatically moving money:
- Incoming funds that would push the balance over the limit trigger the waterfall, converting the excess into commercial bank money on the linked account.
- Outgoing payments larger than the balance trigger the reverse waterfall, pulling the shortfall in from the linked account.
Why this matters for banks
The holding limit is the dial that determines how much deposit funding could shift from commercial banks to central bank money. That is why the amount is a political and financial-stability decision, not a technical one.
Sources
Related reading
Defunding
Defunding is the process of taking digital euro out of an account, either to a linked non-digital euro payment account or out as cash at an ATM or branch.
Funding
Funding is the process of adding digital euro to an account, either from a linked non-digital euro payment account or from cash at an ATM or branch.
Reverse waterfall
Reverse waterfall automatically converts money from a linked account into digital euro when your balance is too low to cover a payment.
Waterfall
Waterfall automatically converts digital euro above your holding limit into commercial bank money on your linked account, so payments are not rejected.