Bank of England answers professionals' questions about upcoming CBDC wallet

Published at: Jan. 5, 2023

Companies that applied to win over the $244,000 contract to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallet proof of concept (PoC) for the Bank of England (BOE) provided questions about the project. In response, the central bank published its answers to over 70 questions. 

On Dec. 9, the BOE opened applications asking suppliers to submit applications. About 20 companies submitted their applications and handed in their questions before Dec. 25. Following this, the BOE published the questions asked by the competing providers and gave its answers that aimed to offer insights into the project.

According to the BOE, it wants to create a back-end server for a core ledger, a mobile wallet application and a merchant website. The bank clarified that it has not yet committed to developing a sample wallet and will only use the PoC to expand its knowledge. The BOE wrote:

“We're using this PoC to deepen our knowledge and understanding of how CBDC products could possibly interact with each other.”

Initially, 28 applications were submitted, but eight suppliers did not proceed after the question stage. Those who completed the applications are 9 small and medium-sized enterprises and 11 large companies. According to the BOE, the contract will be awarded to the chosen applicant on Jan. 31,

Related: The ‘godfather of crypto’ wants to create a privacy-focused CBDC: Here’s how

On Nov. 23, BOE officials Andrew Bailey and Sir Jon Cunliffe answered questions raised by lawmakers in a live-streamed event. On the topic of digital currencies, the officials seemed to see CBDCs as a revolution for the future of money. Sir Cunliffe said that he expects to see a revolution in the functionality of money that's "driven by technology."

Meanwhile, an industry exec recently spoke with Cointelegraph to explain how crypto can be good for CBDCs and vice versa. Itai Avneri, the deputy CEO of crypto platform INX, said that CBDCs and regulated crypto has the potential to complement each other.

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