Central Banks around the world are starting to come in terms with the possibility of an imminent introduction of digital currency. The Bank of England(BOE) has been one of the most active in the space after it had released a discussion paper on the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in March.
Now, according to Bloomberg, in a recent student webinar, Andrew Bailey, BOE has suggested that the Central Bank is currently considering the eventual launch of virtual currency. Indicative to the CBDC for BOE, Bailey said,
“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.”
However, recent developments are not new to the Central Bank. The BOE is currently part of an alliance with the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank ( ECB), the Sveriges Riksbank, the Bank of Canada, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
These organizations have decided to pool their resources in order to deduce constructive research on CBDC, and Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor of BoE, is supposedly co-chair of the group, along with Benoît Cœuré, a former member of the ECB.
The collaboration took place after the rise of the private sector Facebook Libra made headlines around the world in 2019 and early 2020.
Andrew Bailey is against Bitcoin
Despite having an open mind on the development of digital currencies, Bailey believed that Bitcoin had little or no value in the financial sector. Since 2017, Bailey has maintained its stance against the largest digital asset, and recently, on 4 March 2020, Bailey has again conveyed its opinion on Bitcoin to the members of the U.K. Parliament on the Treasury Board. Bailey said that,
“If you want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money…(Bitcoin) it has no intrinsic value.”
Despite its popularity and growth, members of the Central Banks department continue to hold a strong opinion against Bitcoin but discussions of the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency(CBDC) continue to improve over time.