A digital pound sterling issued directly by the Bank of England (BoE) is “likely to be needed in the future”, the British central bank and the Treasury said on Monday, declaring themselves ready to begin exploratory work.
“will bear bills and coins, but A digital pound issued by the BoE will be a new reliable, accessible and easy-to-use means of payment,” said the Finance Minister, jeremy huntThis is a statement.
Following a consultation launched in April 2021, the Bank of England and the Treasury asked to begin a pilot phase, which should last until 2025, at which time the government will decide definitively whether to launch a digital pound, so It would not see the light of day until the second half of the decade.
Similar work is already underway around the world, notably on the digital euro and dollar, while the Chinese digital yuan is already in the design phase.
When individuals or businesses transfer money or use bank cards, they often unwittingly use currency issued by a commercial bank, not the currency issued by a central bank.
Central banks only issue cash and certain types of reserves, although they regulate commercial banks and payment services.
For these, it seeks, rather than competes, to create a form of “digital cash”. cryptocurrencyHow to estimate the growth of payment methods by less regulated non-banking groups as compared to commercial banks.
For example, digital giant Facebook considered launching its own digital currency, causing panic among central banks due to its potential number of users, although the project, dubbed Libra and then Diem, was shelved. was eventually abandoned.
answer the problems of confidentialityA digital pound would have to have as many safeguards as banking information: “Neither the government nor the Bank of England would have access to personal data,” the report says.
In 2021, then-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the work on the subject and named the digital currency “Britcoin”, a term not used in the report, which aimed to differentiate his project from volatile cryptocurrencies as much as possible.
(translate to tag) pound sterling (T) United Kingdom (T) UK economy (T) cryptocurrency
