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| The UK is considering issuing central bank digital currencie |
The United Kingdom is the latest country to join the global battle for the central bank's digital currency, or CBDC.
"We are in the process of creating a new working group between the Treasury and the Bank of England to coordinate research into potential central bank digital currencies. Sexual action," British Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak said Monday at the FinTech Industry Conference.
The Bank of England said in a separate statement: This currency will be a new type of digital currency issued by the Bank of England and will be used by households and established companies with cash and bank deposits instead.
The UK government has yet to make a decision to adopt a digital version of the pound, but it has announced that it will explore goals, use cases, opportunities and risks (if it continues to do so).
The Bank of England has set up a division within the institution that specializes in central bank digital currencies.
This is when many central banks are struggling to develop their digital currency strategy.
The rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has given new impetus to such initiatives, as has the general downward trend in the use of cash.
Last week, before the much-anticipated Bitcoin hit the financial market on the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase, Bitcoin hit a record $ 64,829.
However, due to regulatory issues, the world's most popular digital currency fell sharply over the weekend.
At the same time, the surprising appreciation of the Dogecoin token caused people to worry about a potential bubble in the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin traded at around $ 56,740 on Monday, up 3% in the past 24 hours.
Private stablecoin projects such as the Facebook-backed Diem consortium and the controversial digital currency Tether are another factor that pushed the central bank to switch to CBDC.
These currencies try to peg their market value to an external benchmark (such as the US dollar) in order to avoid the price fluctuations common with most cryptocurrencies.
In terms of the central bank's digital currency, China appears to be ahead of other major countries.
The People's Bank of China conducted a series of tests on digital currencies in major cities. A senior official said on Sunday that the central bank may test the digital renminbi with foreign tourists during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.