UK Treasury Considers Plan For Digital Pound

The government is considering introducing a "digital pound," the economic secretary to the Treasury has told MPs. From a report: The UK was committed to becoming a world crypto hub, Andrew Griffith said. And the government was "a long way down the road... to establish a regime for the wholesale use, for payment purposes, of stablecoins." Stablecoins are designed to have a predictable value linked to traditional currencies or assets such as gold. The currency, for use by households and businesses, would sit alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. A public consultation on the attributes of a digital pound would be launched in coming weeks, Mr Griffith told the Treasury Select Committee. "I want to see us establish a regime, and this is within the FSMB [Financial Services and Markets Bill, currently being debated in Parliament], for the wholesale use for payment purposes of stablecoins," he said. Central banks around the world are developing or exploring digital currencies. China, for example, is a front-runner in this global race, and is in the process of testing a digital yuan in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The European Central Bank in July 2021 took a first step towards launching a digital version of the euro, kicking off a 24-month investigation phase to be followed by three years of implementation. And Mr Griffith told the committee: "It is right to look to seek to embrace potentially disruptive technologies, particularly when we have such a strong fintech and financial sector."

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