A giant blue euro sculpture in the heart of Frankfurt's financial district has a new benefactor: The firm behind a sharia-compliant criptocurrency.
The future of the sculpture was at risk after the banks that paid for its upkeep backed out, a symbol of the European Central Bank's former headquarters and long a symbol of Frankfurt's role in managing the single European currency.
The Frankfurt Culture Committee, the owner of the sculpture, announced on Tuesday that it had secured a new sponsor, saving it from having to auction the 14 metre object.
The sponsor is the technology developer Caiz, a Frankfurt-based company whose Caiz coin conforms to the principles of Islamic finance and laws.
The euro symbol is photographed several hundred times a day, so our involvement makes sense from a commercial perspective as a marketing effort, Joerg Hansen, chief executive officer of Caiz development, told Reuters.
The sculpture was constructed in 2001 to much fanfare, shortly ahead of the launch of euro notes and coins.
The most photographed object in the city remains in Frankfurt am Main, said Manfred Pohl, chair of the committee that owns it.
The logo of the criptocurrency is prominently displayed on the sculpture's base.
Hansen said that the euro will always exist.