Bank of England praises Bitcoin Slam, stablecoin and CBDC |

Like other central banks around the world, the Bank of England is still considering developing its own digital currency.

The governor of the Bank of England today put bitcoin as a substandard payment method, but it has reiterated the bank's interest in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stable coins.

Despite the interest in centrally planned digital currencies, the UK's top bankers still haven't revealed much about whether the country has advanced the development of such currencies.

Andrew Bailey said in a speech at the Brookings Institute today, "They [crypto assets] have nothing to do with money." Taking Bitcoin as an example, he added that cryptocurrencies "may have external value," but "a very risky investment opportunity."

Bailey, who became head of the BoE in March, went on to talk about Stavalcoins and how they could prove useful for global payments, but assets like Bitcoin failed to do so, he argued.

“Stablecoins can provide several useful benefits. For example, we can potentially further reduce payment friction by speeding up and lowering payment costs (especially if a global stablecoin is established),” he said in a speech.

Bailey then added that Stavalcoin and CBDC could coexist and work together. “They took note of a framework that could sit down with different payment options or with elements of the Stavalcoin ecosystem such as wallets and deliver them to consumers. “Access to CBDC” may be an option.

Regarding CBDC, Bailey said it has potential, but it takes "careful consideration" to launch one, and it has not provided any clues to the BoE's development of such an asset.

Bradley Rice, senior regulatory attorney at law firm Ashurst, said in a statement given to Decrypt that the Governor's speech "has put the banks and the UK at the forefront of developing central bank digital currencies."

“Ultimately, there is no way for a central bank or government to give up control over monetary policy and reserve currency to the private sector. Especially if they are not in the UK (or where there are some decentralized systems). Said Rice. "It's a marathon and we have a long way to go, but if the bank doesn't keep pace, we may have to sprint."

Nevertheless, the Bank of England was relatively slow in developing CBDC. While countries such as China and Japan appear to be winning the competition for digital fiat development, the Central Bank of England and the Federal Reserve are taking a much more cautious approach.

Posted Using LeoFinance