Great Britain: Why the National Digital Currency Was Cancelled, or Back-to-Back Sabotage of Power and
RegulationBit News Today2 min read
The Bank of England is considering dropping its plans for a digital pound amid growing skepticism over its benefits, pushback from lawmakers, and mostly critical feedback from the public.
During his annual speech at Mansion House, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey delivered blunt remarks, stating: “I remain to be convinced why the natural next step is to create a new form of money rather than put digital technology into retail payments and bank accounts.”
Though Bailey had previously judged that a digital pound was likely needed, this speech marked his strongest signal to date.
Bank of England officials have privately encouraged commercial lenders to speed up payment innovations that could offer similar advantages without creating a consumer central bank digital currency.
Popular Objections
Alongside largely critical public feedback, critics have expressed concern that a central bank digital currency could expose personal transaction details to government officials and risk abuse.
A call for public input generated over 50,000 mostly critical submissions, while the initiative faced attacks from lawmakers, drew interest from conspiracy theory circles, and raised concerns about state access to personal transaction records.
Turning focus towards alternatives, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey cautioned that stablecoins—tied to fiat currencies but not issued by governments—could erode the sovereignty of local fiat currencies by boosting the dollar's dominance.
This kind of change could make national currencies less important on the world stage.
Leading stablecoins have expanded their circulation across a $272 billion market while central bank digital currencies have stalled in trials.
Stablecoins Push On
With central bank digital currency initiatives losing momentum, stablecoins have moved to the forefront.
Both Canada and Australia have also abandoned their retail CBDC plans over the past 12 months, and programs in many other countries have come to a standstill.
While new payment technologies offer benefits such as fraud prevention, central bank officials and industry observers argue that private bank improvements or stablecoins could provide those same capabilities without creating a new currency.
While the European Union continues work on a digital euro, the Bank of England is pressing commercial banks to accelerate payment upgrades instead. But at the moment, Nigeria, Jamaica, and the Bahamas are the only countries that have officially launched one.
