Britain to push ahead with readying ground for a digital pound

Getting the design of a digital pound right is a bigger priority than a rapid launch, Britain’s Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith said on Tuesday.

LONDON — Getting the design of a digital pound right is a bigger priority than a rapid launch, Britain’s Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith said on Tuesday.

China has pushed ahead with piloting a digital yuan and the European Central Bank is studying a digital euro, piling pressure on Britain to do the same and keep abreast of advances in financial technology.

The finance ministry is due to launch in the coming weeks a public consultation on the attributes of a digital pound.

“The consultation is going to say this is an if and not a when. We are not fully into the inevitability of doing this,” Griffith told the UK parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.

A digital pound raised many public policy issues, he said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/britain-push-ahead-readying-ground-digital-pound-rcna65131

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