According to the findings of a recent poll conducted on behalf of Politico by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, a majority of British adults are concerned about a central bank digital currency (CBDC) produced by the Bank of England (BOE).
The 2,500 British citizens polled in early August voiced reservations and worries about the underlying societal benefits of the Bank of England issuing a CBDC.
According to the findings, 30% of participants believe that a “Britcoin” CBDC is “more likely to be damaging than useful to the UK,” while 24% believe it may be beneficial, and 46% are undecided.
A more detailed examination of participants’ specific concerns about a digital currency revealed that 73% would be “concerned about the threat of hacks and cyberattacks, 70% about users’ privacy, 62 percent about the government’s ability to seize their money, and 45 percent about the environmental impact.”
If this project succeeds in overcoming the barriers to public acceptance and is deployed across the country, it will be the first time a digital currency has been issued by a central bank in the UK.
The UK’s move for a CBDC
For the past few years, the United Kingdom has been researching the concept of a CBDC. Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Bank of England teamed up in April to form a preliminary task group to better understand the CBDC’s “design, implementation, and operation” problems.
Tom Mutton, the BOE’s head of fintech, is leading the drive toward a CBDC future, recently sharing his thoughts on the benefits of adoption, which range from “competition and diversity in payments to potential to promote financial inclusion and ensure privacy.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak stated in June that a “sweeping set of financial services reforms” will be implemented over the following three years, with a CBDC at the top of the priority list.
Respondents — which included internet and fintech firms, private persons, payment firms, and others — identified four significant themes in response to the Bank of England’s 2020 discussion paper on the likelihood of a CBDC.
These were: the need for a CBDC’s “use case” to be further developed and articulated; the need for CBDC to support financial inclusion and protect privacy; the BOE’s design principles are comprehensive but difficult to implement; and functional capabilities, including offline payments, were considered crucial.
Mutton concluded from the discussion paper that there was a “near-unanimous agreement that the pros and drawbacks needed to be investigated in-depth, that broad engagement was required as the information was gathered, and that open dialogue was necessary before reaching any conclusions.”
