Bank of England Considers Axing CBDC Plans—Is Digital Pound Dead on Arrival?

The Bank of England might be pulling the plug on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) ambitions—just as the crypto world starts laughing at traditional finance's sluggish pace.

Another Legacy Finance False Start?

Sources hint Threadneedle Street is rethinking its digital pound rollout. Too much red tape? Fear of disrupting high-street banks? Or just another case of institutional cold feet?

Crypto Eats Their Lunch

While bureaucrats debate, Bitcoin and stablecoins keep carving out real-world utility. Maybe CBDCs were always destined to be the over-engineered, privacy-nightmare cousins nobody asked for.

One Whitehall insider quipped: 'At this rate, by the time they launch, we’ll all be paid in memecoins anyway.'

UK slow to adopt CBDCs

US policy think tank Atlantic Council shows the UK’s CBDC is in development and is comparatively behind other jurisdictions with its digital currency, as Bloomberg reported that no final decision has been made yet on whether to proceed.

The project has reportedly attracted the attention of conspiracy theory groups, faced attacks from lawmakers, and prompted over 50,000 responses, mostly critical, during a request for public comments.

Privacy concerns from consumers have been raised in addition to fears of destabilizing bank runs during crises. There were also concerns about foreign or Big Tech stablecoins potentially undermining the British pound. 

US anti-CBDC bill passes 

CBDCs have been halted across the pond in the US with the House passing the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act in addition to two crypto bills last week. 

The bill is designed to block the Federal Reserve from issuing or testing a CBDC without explicit congressional approval.

Earlier this week, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the GENIUS Act stablecoin-regulation bill creates a “backdoor” for the government to create a CBDC, veiled as privately issued crypto tokens.

CBDC ecosystem expanding 

Only three countries have officially launched a CBDC: the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria. 

There are 49 countries in the pilot phase, 20 in the development phase, and 36 in the research phase, according to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker.