Bank of England Scrapping Digital Pound Development

The Bank of England (BoE) is reportedly considering scrapping its development of a digital pound popularly known as the “Britcoin” amid widespread concerns about the feasibility of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The UK central bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, expressed strong doubts about creating the digital pound.

“I question why we need to introduce a new form of money,” he told lawmakers during a recent Treasury committee hearing.

The remark is a significant backflip from the BoE’s public position, such as just two years ago when it claimed a digital pound was “likely necessary”.

“We're looking at the case for a digital pound,” the central bank says on its website.

“We are now in a design phase which will look at the technology and policy requirements for a digital pound. In the design phase, we will test how it could work in the real world. This will bring to life innovative ways to use it so you can see how it might be useful and relevant to you...

“At the end of this phase we will have enough information to make a decision on whether to move into a build phase.”

The UK’s apparent backflip comes amid broader skepticism around CBDC initiatives. Both Australia and Canada have scrapped plans for retail digital currencies in the past year, while US President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting work on retail CBDCs in January.

The global walk-back from CBDCs is in large part due to concerns about consumers’ privacy, as the currencies would not have the same anonymity as cash. As a result, multiple banking regulators are reportedly looking to lean on private sector innovations rather than centralized digital currencies.