The Bank of England Financial Policy Committee and other U.K. regulators are assessing crypto regulation after publishing reports on financial stability relating to cryptoassets and decentralized finance. The BoE report was released on Thursday, and the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, along with the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority, or PRA, also released documents simultaneously that all reference one another. The Bank’s committee, or FPC, stated in its 40-page report that cryptoassets and DeFi pose a “limited” risk to the stability of the UK financial system, but it saw that risk growing “as these assets become more interconnected with the wider …

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has expressed concerns over El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender after President Nayib Bukele announced the launch of Bitcoin City. Bailey argued that El Salvador’s decision to adopt Bitcoin as a currency was alarming because consumers are likely to suffer from the cryptocurrency’s extreme volatility. Trading around $43,000 on the first day of El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption as legal tender, Bitcoin surged to a new historical high above $68,000 on Nov. 9. BTC price has significantly tumbled since then, with Bitcoin trading at $54,626 at the time of writing. “It concerns …

Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England (BoE) crypto may pose an imminent threat to the traditional financial system. During a Nov. 15 interview with the BBC’s “Today” program, Cunliffe argued that the rapid growth of digital assets and their integration with traditional financial services could soon pose systemic risks, stating: “[Cryptocurrencies] are growing very fast, and they’re becoming integrated more into what I might call the traditional financial system.” “So the point at which they pose a risk is getting closer. I think regulators and legislators need to think very hard about …

The Bank of England and the U.K. finance ministry are planning to launch a consultation on the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency starting in 2022. In a Nov. 9 statement, the Bank of England said the digital pound consultation with HM Treasury would consider design features, benefits and implications for users and business, as well as other relevant issues. The results of the 2022 consultation will determine whether U.K. authorities intend to move forward with a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. “If the results of this ‘development’ phase conclude that the case for CBDC is made, …

Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England, said the risks of a growing crypto market on the financial system are “relatively limited” at the moment but have the potential to grow very rapidly if regulators do not keep pace. In a speech to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) on Oct. 13, Cunliffe said policymakers around the world have only just started to develop the framework needed to properly regulate digital assets but should pursue it “as a matter of urgency.” The deputy governor spoke about the risks that cryptocurrencies and stablecoins may …

The United Kingdom’s central bank is ramping up its research into a central bank digital currency (CBDC) with the selection of a long list of banking and fintech experts to assist it. On Thursday, the Bank of England announced the membership of its CBDC Engagement and Technology Forums and they include some big names in technology and finance including Google, Mastercard, Consensys — and even Spotify. This week’s announcement is a signal that the central bank is taking its CBDC plans seriously. It stated that the Technology Forum draws resources from leading experts in the field of digital payments and …

The results of a recent survey undertaken by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Politico suggest that a plurality of the British adult population hold visceral concerns surrounding a Bank of England (BOE)-issued central bank digital currency (CBDC). The 2,500 British adults surveyed in the study in early August expressed doubts and concerns on the inherent societal benefits of the issuance of a CBDC by the Bank of England. According to the data, 30% of participants believe that a “Britcoin” CBDC is “more likely to be harmful than beneficial to the UK,” with 24% believing that it could be …

Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the Exchequer for the United Kingdom, has included cryptocurrencies and stablecoins on the list of financial reforms the government plans to undertake in the next few years. Speaking to lawmakers at the Lord Mayor of London’s residence on Thursday, the chancellor said the U.K. government would be implementing recommendations to establish the country as a center of fintech innovation and business. Though Sunak said the U.K. would be protecting its citizens’ access to cash, he added authorities would be monitoring updates in finance and technology as well as working on its own reforms regarding digital assets. …

There has been much commotion about stablecoins among central bankers, regulators and lawmakers in recent years, most notably in the furor surrounding Facebook’s repeated attempts to launch variously designed stablecoins that would be native to its multiple social media platforms. Not everyone in the financial world is that perturbed though. A new speech for the Westminster eForum Policy Conference by Christina Segal-Knowles, executive director of the Bank of England's Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate, is titled “What’s Old is New Again” and aims to tone down some of the excitement and agitation surrounding the issue. Restricting her focus to stablecoins that …

The Bank of England is continuing to devote significant resources to researching digital money in both private and public forms. With an eye on both the domestic and international context, the central bank’s latest discussion paper, published June 7, outlines the role and possible developments of both in the ongoing evolution of money. Commenting on the paper’s publication, BoE governor Andrew Bailey said that “the prospect of stablecoins as a means of payment and the emerging propositions of CBDC have generated a host of issues that central banks, governments, and society as a whole, need to carefully consider and address. …

The Bank of England's deputy governor Jon Cunliffe has argued that a sea change in the issuance and circulation of public and private monies could make general access to a digital form of central bank money crucial for ensuring financial stability in future. In a speech at the OMFIF Digital Money Institute in London, Cunliffe reflected on past, present and future trends in the widespread use of private money issued by commercial banks, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated existing trends away from public to private money for everyday payments. About 70% of respondents to a recent Bank of …

How can this CBDC design trilemma be overcome? An identity-based, meta-blockchain can achieve all three design goals of identity, privacy and programmability. While blockchain systems can be structurally decentralized, the operation itself can be very much centralized and sequential. The problem lies in how transactions cannot be processed in parallel — and multiple smart contracts cannot be operated simultaneously. A meta-blockchain that can operate smart contracts in parallel could be the answer here, as it can ensure that a user’s information is kept secret at all times. SovereignWallet Network (SWN) Global believes it has found the solution for tackling the …