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Bank of England Financial Technology Director Tom Hutton recently spoke about the United Kingdom’s plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) at the Financial Times Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets Summit in London.
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According to the report, Hutton’s speech focused on privacy and anonymity, concepts he says are at odds with the Bank of England’s digital currency.
Describing the United Kingdom’s plans for a digital pound sterling as viable only if “it has the highest standards of privacy”, Mutton explained that such a product was never intended to provide anonymity:
“Privacy and anonymity are used interchangeably, which shouldn’t be.”
Seemingly referring to the possibility of cryptocurrencies being used to commit criminal acts — which experts estimate is only 0.10% to 0.15% of all cryptocurrencies — Mutton also mentioned that anonymity is “a public policy issue and something something that shouldn’t be allowed.” continue.”
In further comments, Matton explained that the digital pound would not be compatible with cryptocurrencies. His argument: they do not “perform any of the functions of money.”
Related: Canada’s central bank asks citizens what they want from a digital dollar
Mutton’s comments come less than a month after Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir John Cunliffe spoke at the Global Innovative Finance Summit in London.
During an event on April 17, Cunliffe tackled CBDCs and stablecoins, telling event attendees that the latter “will enable greater efficiency and functionality in payments” but that “it is highly unlikely that any of the current offerings will meet the standards of safety and security.” uniformity that we currently apply to both commercial bank money and existing payment systems.”
Regarding the national CBDC, Cunliffe said the digital pound “is likely to be needed if current trends in payments and money […] will be preserved.”
The Bank of England has yet to announce when or if there will be a digital pound launch. In February, the bank issued guidance suggesting, as Cunliffe recently reiterated, that such a product might be needed in the future, but that it was “too early to make a decision” just yet.
