UK still doodling digital pound while Brussels frets over payment sovereignty
- Reference: 1772703011
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/05/uk_digital_currency/
- Source link:
Speaking to MPs this week, Dave Ramsden, deputy governor of the Bank of England, said his team was still working with HM Treasury on the design of a digital currency for the UK.
He told the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee that the bank was trying to make sure it could provide the infrastructure and technology platform for the so-called digital pound, or central bank digital currency (CBDC), when plans are finalized.
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"You've got to distinguish between money and the rails on which money operates," he said. "The bank wants to make sure that we have the best technological solution that ensures the singleness of money. CBDC is one option – retail CBDC – as a different type of money, but that's very distinct from the rails that money is operating on. We're still in the design phase with the Treasury. We've got to make a decision – I think this year – on our retail CBDC."
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However, he said the bank was [4]also looking at the potential role of stablecoins in the UK's digital currency market. Stablecoins are digital assets that are pegged to a specific currency.
"If a sterling stablecoin came along, as opposed to a digital pound, could we deal with that? Would that meet our standard of singleness of money, alongside commercial bank money or notes? That world has got more complicated even since we introduced the thinking on the digital pound. This is all very much in flux, and we are just trying to make sure that we are providing both the infrastructure and the technological platform that innovation can take place on."
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In January, more than 60 economists lobbied the European Parliament to get behind plans for a digital euro. They said the EU must succeed in creating a digital currency if it is to avoid becoming dependent on the US, particularly in light of recent shifts in geopolitics.
"Europe's payment system is dominated by a handful of non-European corporations," [6]they said [PDF]. "In 13 euro-area countries, basic retail payments now rely entirely on international card schemes – without any domestic alternative. This dependence on foreign (US) payment providers exposes European citizens, businesses, and governments to geopolitical leverage, foreign commercial interests, and systemic risks beyond Europe's control. Recent developments have made this more than a hypothetical risk. Without a meaningful digital euro, our dependence will deepen as US-backed private digital currencies are gaining ground. Europe will lose control over the most fundamental element in our economy: our money."
[7]Europe preps Digital Euro to enter circulation in 2029
[8]Bank of England flirts with offline digital dosh
[9]Use of India's CBDC declines, but central bank presses ahead
[10]SWIFT embraces central bank digital currencies after sandbox success
Ramsden told MPs that the European Central Bank (ECB) had "gone much further on retail CBDC – the digital euro – we're still at the design phase."
Assuming the EU adopts the necessary legislation, [11]the ECB aims to be ready for a first issuance of the digital euro during 2029 .
In November 2021, the Bank of England and HM Treasury [12]announced a consultation process designed to inform a decision about whether the UK should proceed to design and create a CBDC, which at the time briefly earned the moniker Britcoin.
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In January 2022, [14]the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee said it was yet to "hear a convincing case for why the UK needs a retail CBDC."
In February 2023, the Bank of England and HM Treasury said the UK would probably need a digital version of the pound at some point and [15]launched their promised consultation .
"It is too early to commit to building the infrastructure for one, but we are convinced that further preparatory work is justified," the paper said.
In April 2025, [16]the Bank of England showed that an offline digital payment system could work . However, it was waiting to study policy choices before progressing further. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
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[4] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2025/november/boe-launches-consultation-on-regulating-systemic-stablecoins
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaliUfSaJC9w3xhO8DH35gAAAc8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://sustainablefinancelab.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/506/2026/01/The-Digital-Euro-Let-te-public-interest-prevail.pdf
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/digital_euro_approved/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/boe_cbdc_offline_payments/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/08/india_cbdc_decline/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/swift_cbdc_interop_test/
[11] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/10/uk_cbdc_consultation/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaliUfSaJC9w3xhO8DH35gAAAc8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1504/central-bank-digital-currencies/publications/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/08/digital_pound_needed_consultations_commence/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/boe_cbdc_offline_payments/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: One option - ban them
Like it or not Mastercard and Visa control the UK and EU payments systems at present. There were alternatives like Electron (i forget the name so that might be wrong) but they never suceeded. While banning US controlled payment methods would make sense, the whole point of the article is that there needs to be an EU replacement before that could even be considered.
Re: One option - ban them
What is the connection between a European settlement system, and a European bitcoin?
I'm not saying there is none, just that it's not immediately obvious to me that a European bitcoin is any more necessary than a block-chain settlement system.
Re: One option - ban them
" block-chain settlement system"
Why did you bring block-chain into this. OP didn't mention it. It isn't necessary and wouldn't be the sovereign version of Visa erc.
Re: One option - ban them
"Ban their use."
It would be possible to do that on its own but would mean going back to cash and cheques with charge accounts for the privileged.
The more sensible thing would be to get a local payment system up and running first.
Digital currency
Could someone please explain to me the importance of this bullshit ?
Our currency is already digital. The number of times I have paid in cash in the past decade are vanishingly small.
So why is this suddenly an important issue ? Banks have already solved digital currency.
Instead of VISA, just create UKPay that does the same thing.
Problem solved.
Re: Digital currency
There seems to be confusion in the UK government between payment processors and crypto currency. Locally controlled payment processors are vital, crypto blockchain nonsense is not. Unfortunatly UK MPs only know the word "digital".
Re: Digital currency
I was thinking very much the same thing. However, following the last link brings up an article with this explanation: "a system that allows phone-to-phone, phone-to-card, and card-to-phone payments while offline, and enables the downloading and uploading of funds to and from the ledger when the device is back online."
In other words the very situations for which we underlings sometimes use cash. I for one wouldn't be prepared to have any more in such a digital form in my phone than I'd carry in physical form in my wallet. What's more my wallet takes up less space than my phone so gets carried around all the time while the phone doesn't; it also doesn't have a battery to go flat so physical cash is more available than phone-based digital cash would be.
The real kicker here comes with the words "the ledger". That's what it's really about: traceability and surveillance.
Re: Digital currency
I don't carry _any_ financial instruments on my mobile. I do no phone banking or phone purchases. Ever. I don't have the banking application, the credit card application, or paypal and its friends.
Your mileage may vary, but I consider the mobile phone one of the least secure devices in my possession and an obvious target for criminality. So it's used to message, to navigate sometimes, to take photographs in the absence of better solutions.
A financial system which requires every user to have a mobile phone is broken by design, and probably equally by design insecure.
Re: Digital currency
Agree completely.
I'd add that any system which depends on a mobile phone for identity is also broken by design. That includes all use of text for TFA/MFA. To make matters worse not only do phone cases make provision to carry banking cards but some people, including my daughter, actually use that.
Any digital currency issued by a central bank will be all about control: there will be tracking designed in, so that central government can see where and how people are spending their money, and at some point there will be limits put on spending your money in the way that you wish to - for example benefits payments only being able to be spent on what the government defines as necessities, social and behavioural controls, expiration dates on money to force economic stimulus etc etc
While none of this will be implemented immediately, once you've opened Pandora's box, there's no going back...
The sooner we can get our payment systems away from Visa and Mastercard the better. A someone who runs a small business I hate the fact that for basically doing FA they are making money on every transaction when someone pays using their debit or credit card, no matter if its a using a card, Apple pay, Paypal or any of the other dozens of ways to pay, they take their little cut of it.
That is why you will often see smaller business saying they won't accept card payments unless over a certain threshold due to the fees they get charged. If you go to your local independent shop to buy a 2 litre bottle of milk for £1.80 and pay with a card that probably means any profit the business would make on the sale is gone, as it goes to the payment processor. That is why i always pay in cash in those shops as I know margins are thin.
I would totally support to have the card fee charged to the customer
One option - ban them
>> Without a meaningful digital euro, our dependence will deepen as US-backed private digital currencies are gaining ground. Europe will lose control over the most fundamental element in our economy: our money.
There is no reason to allow their use in Europe. Ban their use. Make it a criminal offence to use them.