On Tuesday, the Bank of England (BofE) ran a webinar as part of its consultation process about a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Bank has not made a decision about going ahead with a CBDC and recently published a discussion paper. During the webinar, the Bank outlined that the model it favors would be a two-tier CBDC which would enable fintechs and the private sector to play a role in the retail distribution of a CBDC.
In cryptocurrency media outlets, the BofE statements were portrayed as endorsing stablecoins. Rather than interpreting comments, we’ve transcribed the relevant sections below. This relates to comments by Ben Dyson, Lead on Central Bank Digital Currencies & Cryptoassets at the BofE.
He spoke about how cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin lack the qualities of money. “That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for somebody to improve on that technology and create something that much better fulfills the qualities of money,” said Dyson. “And so, for example, we’ve seen proposals over the last year from large technology firms, for example, to build payment systems and crypto-assets that could function much more as stable money.”
Article continues …
Want the full story? Pro subscribers get complete articles, exclusive industry analysis, and early access to legislative updates that keep you ahead of the competition. Join the professionals who are choosing deeper insights over surface level news.
