The Bank of England (BoE) and the UK Treasury are continuing their plans to establish a digital currency that could “offer a new method of payment” without necessarily replacing cash. These ideas are in the early stages.

A joint consultation paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) is scheduled to launch on February 7, with the Bank of England and the Treasury seeking views on how and whether they should go ahead with establishing a CBDC. The topic of the paper is central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Jeremy Hunt, Minister of Finance, made an announcement to the public on February 6 indicating that the two organizations will collaborate in an effort to build a modernized digital payments system that does not necessarily exclude the use of cash.

“While cash is here to stay, a digital pound issued and backed by the Bank of England could be a reliable, accessible and easy-to-use new form of payment,” he said. He went on to say that “we want to first investigate what is possible, always making sure that we protect financial stability.”

Officials at the Bank of England and the Treasury Department anticipate that big tech companies will provide a government-backed alternative to privately produced stablecoins in the coming years. This will be another important area of ​​attention to be addressed.

As part of the statement, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey highlighted the fact that “a digital pound would enable a new method of payment, benefit businesses, keep faith in money and better safeguard financial stability.” .

“However, there are a number of ramifications that our technical work will need to consider carefully. This consultation, along with the additional work to be done by the bank at this time, will set the stage for what would be an important option for the nation on how that we use the money

A speech by BoE Lieutenant Governor Jon Cunliffe is also scheduled for February 7. The purpose of this speech is to provide the financial sector with an update on the work of the central bank and Treasury CBDC thus far.

It was proposed that even if they choose to proceed with the project, construction of the blockchain-based infrastructure that would support the digital pound would not take place until at least 2025.

Related: According to a new study, London has become the world’s most crypto-ready city for commercial use.

Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister and former finance minister, issued an order in April 2021 directing the Bank of England and the Treasury to work together to establish the Central Bank Digital Currency Task Force. The two individuals are essentially entrusted with overseeing the investigation, as well as the possible deployment of the digital pound.

Although it seems to have been a slow process so far, given how cautious the BoE and Treasury stances are, the latter posted a job listing on LinkedIn on January 24 requesting a team lead for its Payments and Fintech team of about 20 focused people exploring a “potential digital pound”. Although it appears to have been a slow process so far, given how cautious the BoE and Treasury stances are, the Treasury released the job listing.