Bank of England and HM Treasury Launch Digital Currency Taskforce
The taskforce will be co-chaired by Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England and Katharine Braddick, HM Treasury’s director general of financial services.
key takeaways
- The new taskforce will look into use cases and risks
- The Bank also announced the creation of two new CBDC-related forums
The Bank of England and HM Treasury have created a joint central bank digital currency taskforce, the two announced Monday.
Authorities in England have not yet decided on whether or not to establish a national digital currency in the UK, but the taskforce will look into use cases and risks.
“The Taskforce aims to ensure a strategic approach is adopted between the UK authorities as they explore CBDC,” the release said. “The Taskforce will support a rigorous, coherent and comprehensive assessment of the overall case for a UK CBDC and monitor international CBDC developments to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global innovation.”
The taskforce will be co-chaired by Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England and Katharine Braddick, HM Treasury’s director general of financial services.
The Bank of England also announced the creation of two new CBDC-related forums. The CBDC engagement forum and the CBDC technology forum will help to address challenges associated with implementing and regulating a digital currency.
The announcement comes as central banks around the world begin to explore digital currency opportunities. China is said to be currently piloting its digital yuan. The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have also both signaled that they are looking into CBDCs.
