(Finance) – The Bank of England let it be known that he started with the treasure British the consultations about the possibility of creating one GBP digital, which is a digital currency of the Central Bank of the Kingdom. The digital pound – explains the Bank of England in a note – “would be interchangeable with the cash hey deposits bankingwould complement cash” and, especially early on, would have some limitations on the amount individuals could hold. It could be used by households and businesses for everyday in-store and online payments. BoE he specified that at the moment no binding decisions have been taken on whether or not to proceed along this road.
The digital pound, explained the British Central Bank, “would replicate the role of the cash in a digital world: therefore risk-free, accessible and with high levels of trust. £10 digital would always be equivalent to £10 cash. Would be issued from the Bank of England widely available and convenient to use”. In addition, the new digital currency – continues the press release – “would be subject to rigorous standards of privacy and data protection: neither the government nor the central bank will have access to the personal data of holders, which would have the same level of privacy as on a bank account”.
A similar procedure has also been initiated by European Central Bank for the creation of a digital euro and a decision on this is expected in the coming months. The European Commission is also preparing a text on the matter. It is also moving in the same direction Central Bank of China.
More indefinite is instead the path of the federal Reserve. The institution has shown general openness to evaluating new digitized systems, also at the urging of the Biden administration. It reported last month that it had “discussed potential benefits and risks” of a digital dollar, releasing a report in the context of which it effectively launched a public consultation on Jan. 20. However, it did not go so far as to launch an explicit exploratory procedure like the ECB and the BoE now.