News of a possible English CBDC are coming out of London after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey revealed that they considering a digital currency.
The head of the top bank made this public in a webinar while addressing some students. During the session he said that the world could be heading towards a future dominated by digital currencies.
“We are looking at the question of, should we create a Bank of England digital currency. We’ll go on looking at it, as it does have huge implications on the nature of payments and society. I think in a few years’ time, we will be heading toward some sort of digital currency,”
This potential move might mirror what is being done by the Central Bank of China. The digital Yuan has been the talk of Europe and America for a while now, and people will wonder if some this has rubbed off on the English. It certainly has on other members of the G20 bloc, having made the decision to start laying the bricks for a digital currency. The role of Facebook’s Libra can also not be dismissed because so many were against the idea of the social media giant having access to tons of personal and financial data.
If the English follow through, they will probably do it with much more ease than others in Europe. The Brexit deal frees them from the bureaucracies that come with being part of the European Union. The UK has always maintained currency autonomy to large extents, so making this move unilaterally will not be that much of a problem. A British CBDC would give the pound a major boost over the likes of the U.S dollar and the Euro. Time will tell how this story unfolds when Brexit procedures resume after lockdown.
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