UK confirms plans for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

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The UK distinguished itself from other countries in Europe by stepping away from Central Bank Digital Currencies. But that just changed, as announced by the Treasury Department.

The UK will also have its digital currency

UK Treasury Chancellor Rishi Sunak shared the news yesterday. The press release explains the government’s strategy with regard to the post-Brexit UK economy. As a reminder, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on December 31, 2020, after a period of negotiations that lasted most of the year.

It is in this context that the new British strategy is therefore taking place, which is looking for reliable financial support. The Chancellor of the Treasury explains that it is a question of allowing the country to remain competitive:

It’s a new chapter for financial services in the UK, [with] plans to support the dynamism, openness and competitiveness of the sector, which include conversations on new technologies such as stablecoins and are digital currencies.

Major step for the UK

This is a significant step for the United Kingdom, which until then showed a very British caution about a possible digital currency. The Chancellor of the Treasury now asserts it thus:

Stablecoins could transform the way money is stored and exchanged , making payments cheaper and faster.

The UK also wants to “take a leadership role in terms of conversation s overall on the currency ‘s digital s central bank”. Without doubt forgetting in passing that some countries did not wait for its approval to start doing more than just talking.

The Chancellor of the Treasury confirms that the institution will work with the country’s central bank to “consider if and how central banks can issue their own digital currencies as a complement to cash.”

We don’t have any details on this UK Treasury research, but it shows that the country no longer wants to be left behind. Brexit is fast approaching, however, which suggests that the long research necessary to set up a digital currency will be completed when the transition is long overdue.