UK considers launching a digital version of the sterling

In the past year, the crypto world has seen two major phenomena related to each other emerge. Both concerns how money will work in the future.

The first of these is Facebook’s planned stablecoin libra and the opposition it has encountered from lawmakers around the world. The second is the so-called central bank-issued digital currencies that countries such as China and Sweden are currently planning to launch.

The UK Treasury has now presented a plan for what the country’s financial sector should look like after Brexit. This document contains interesting information about both the regulation of stablecoins and a future digital pound, Cointelegraph reports.

Want to regulate stablecoins like other payment methods

When it comes to stablecoins, the Treasury reveals that they are currently working on developing a new set of rules to ensure that these are covered by the same regulations as other payment methods.

Overall, the ministry, led by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, seems to be sympathetic to stablecoins.

“New technologies such as stablecoins — privately-issued digital currencies — could transform the way people store and exchange their money, making payments cheaper and faster”, the Chancellor says in the press release with which the document is released.

The Bank of England and the Treasury are researching a digital currency

Perhaps the biggest news, however, is that both the Treasury and the Bank of England, the country’s central bank, are examining the possibilities of developing a digital currency.

If the UK were to decide to launch a digital version of the sterling, it would be the largest economy apart from China to launch such a project.

However, when a digital currency may be launched – or if it will be launched at all – is still uncertain, Cointelegraph reports.

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