authenticate and process the new notes simply via software updates. the early and continuous involvement of banknote equipment manufacturers is particularly important. the conversion of several million devices is a huge logistical challenge. to handle it, it is essential to provide equipment manufacturers with banknotes of the new series in good time. the rather slow conversion of vending machines in the case of the new €5 has shown us that many businesses require an even longer lead time and to be contacted more actively. as a result, eight months before the launch date on 23 september 2014, production samples of the new €10 banknote were made available to equipment manufacturers. a “ partnership programme ” aims to broaden the impact of the communication activities. despite having a modern design and the latest security features, the banknotes of the new series are clearly recognisable as euro notes. this is very important because euro banknotes are the most visible symbol of the common currency area. in order not to disconcert holders of the notes worldwide, the banknotes of the first euro series will remain legal tender for a very long time. and of course the central banks of the eurosystem will redeem banknotes of the old series at face value for an unlimited period. euro banknotes and coins are a method of payment of stable value, acceptance of which is compulsory, and thus they are superior to alternative methods of payment. of these, i would like to mention two types : virtual money and regional currencies. virtual money can, like cash, be used to buy real goods and services. it is “ digital cash ”. bitcoin is the best - known example. this cross - border virtual payment system was launched privately in 2009 in response to the international financial crisis, offering money that was independent of central banks and commercial banks. bitcoins are “ mined ” in a decentralised way in a computer network and managed in the same fashion. their special feature is that payments are made directly between the participants without a bank as an intermediary. the elimination of any bank charges achieved in this way is often claimed to be an advantage. however, exchange rate losses can quickly cancel out this advantage. for example, the bitcoin exchange rate, determined by supply and demand, slumped from €170 to €70 in april 2013 after the bitcoin exchange temporarily suspended trading and triggered panic selling. further price falls occurred after hacker attacks, when bitcoins were stolen on several occasions. this happened most

in balance. there are now global factors that could cast a shadow over the strong growth outlook. first, the new trade measures announced by the us administration. ecb estimates indicate that the first - round effects of the proposed measures for the euro area are likely to be slight, even in the event of retaliation by us trading partners. the after - effects however could be stronger. second, developments in the foreign exchange and other financial markets. in this respect, i would like to point out though that the most recent volatility on stock markets had little impact on other asset classes in the euro area. the strong economic growth is also having an impact on the labour market. the increase in employment since mid - 2013 – almost 7. 5 million jobs – has offset the total number of jobs lost overall during the crisis. the unemployment gap – a measure of labour market overcapacity – now seems to have closed, although it has again been revised downwards, and employment in 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the euro area is higher than it has ever been. in short, our monetary policy has successfully boosted demand and returned slack resources back into productive use. in view of this, the path of inflation should, over the medium term, approach our inflation objective of below, but close to, 2 %. and inflation is acceletating, albeit more slowly than we would like, but more clearly than expected in october, when we decided to scale back the purchases. the increase in trust that inflation is on the right path will also influence our reaction in the future. two additional factors play an essential role here : the first has to do with the declining impact of our net purchases over time. the holdings are becoming steadily more important than the growth. the second factor relates to the link between output and inflation. in the past, a highly expansionary policy was needed to counter the economic downturn and to ensure that inflation remained consistent with our definition of price stability. headwinds reduced the effectiveness of our monetary policy and they had to be resisted. for example, deleveraging caused a greater inclination to save, the general uncertainty dampened investments and a long period of low inflation threatened to de - anchor inflation expectations. in addition, deflation was a real risk. these negative factors have eased during the ongoing recovery. deflation fears have been dispelled. and the assumption is that, under these circumstances, a policy of unchanged monetary policy is unduly expansionary. in addition,