The Government has announced it is moving forward with the development of a digital pound, which has been widely dubbed ‘Britcoin’.

A final decision on whether to launch the digital currency has not been taken yet, and if it does come to pass, it will happen towards the end of this decade.

In the meantime, the Bank of England is going to make preparations, and is currently consulting on the design of a digital pound. While it may yet be some time off, if and when it does arrive, ‘Britcoin’ could have wide-ranging implications for businesses and consumers.

If you’re scratching your head about what a digital pound might look like, you certainly won’t be alone, as this is a very nascent area of how the ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies might be used in the more mainstream financial arena.

IS THIS A NEW CURRENCY?

Probably the most important thing to acknowledge is that the Government is not launching a new currency; a digital pound will be worth the same as the pound in your pocket, or in your bank account.

Unlike bitcoin, its value won’t fluctuate wildly, though it will be subject to sterling’s ebb and flow on international currency markets. This is probably one reason the Government isn’t using the neat moniker ‘Britcoin’, because it implicitly associates the project with a volatile asset class where fraud and failure has been rife.

WHY IS IT BEING LAUNCHED?

There are two main reasons the Government is looking at developing a digital pound, and both are sound. The first is that other countries are looking at building this technology, and the private sector is also possibly muscling in on the act with stable coins, which are like crypto assets but linked to the price of existing, more stable currencies.

The Bank of England is legitimately concerned that new forms of monetary value like this could loosen its grip on the financial system and prevent it from managing the economy.

The second reason is that a digital pound could improve the payments system, resulting in faster, cheaper, and more sophisticated transactions for businesses and consumers.

An example might be smoother cross border payments, which historically have often involved hefty fees for currency exchange.

A cheaper, more automated payments system might allow micropayments to be taken for services, providing new possibilities in business models. For instance, it may become economical for a newspaper to charge you 5p for each article you read, rather than £10 for a monthly subscription, if that 5p can be transferred at a miniscule cost. A digital pound could also allow for programmable payments, so that money moves from your account on certain conditions. This could have applications for areas like paying utility bills or tax, or even saving £1 every time you spend £100.

WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES?

No sweeping innovation like a digital pound comes without risks. Chief amongst those is the effect on the banking sector and the potential for financial stability to be undermined.

The Government is already aware of this issue and has proposed some features for a digital pound that would help to mitigate these risks. For instance, ‘Britcoin’ won’t pay any interest, so it shouldn’t distort the savings market. The Government is also suggesting consumers can only hold a limited amount in ‘Britcoin’, at least to begin with, to prevent a run on any bank.

There are also concerns around privacy and financial inclusion. Although the Bank of England is likely to be the provider of the core infrastructure of a digital pound, it isn’t proposing it will deal with consumers directly. Rather individuals will hold their ‘Britcoins’ in wallets provided by financial intermediaries who hold their data, and neither the Bank nor the Government will be able to see these.

This isn’t so different to the current situation, where central banks issue money, and banks and payment providers transact with customers. So, on the face of it there seems little reason for people to be too worried about privacy issues, or at least any more worried than they are right now.

WILL IT EVENTUALLY REPLACE CASH?

Financial inclusion is more of an issue, but perhaps not a new one. The Bank of England is not suggesting that ‘Britcoin’ will replace cash, but clearly it is a further step in the digitalisation of finance, which has the potential to leave the less technologically savvy behind.

This is nothing new, because money has been becoming more digital for many years now, as cash use has declined.

The Government has said that it will consider financial inclusion in the design of ‘Britcoin’, and even look at ways it may help certain financially excluded groups, so the devil will very much be in the detail.

We can expect a lot more information from the Bank of England about the development of the digital pound. With a potential launch date towards the end of the decade, we will have plenty of time to digest it.

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