The Digital pound (also known as digital sterling or britcoin) is a proposed

central bank digital currency A central bank digital currency (CBDC; also called digital fiat currency or digital base money) is a digital currency issued by a central bank, rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the central bank, unless it is dividend-y ...

from the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

. It is intended to supplement, not replace,

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-i ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The value of the digital pound would be the same as

pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

so that £10 of digital pounds would have the same value as a banknote of £10. It would differ from a

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

cryptoasset A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership records ...

because it would be created and backed by the

and the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, rather than by a company or anonymous person or group. A

public consultation Public consultation, public comment, or simply consultation, is a process by which members of the public are asked for input on public issues. This can occur in public meetings open to all (such as town hall meetings) in written form (such as in ...

on the digital pound lasting four months was announced on 6 February 2023. A final decision on the implementation of a digital pound would be expected around 2025, with consumer usage expected in the late 2020s. In a March 2024 episode of BBC Radio 4's ''Money Box'',

Harriett Baldwin Dame Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (; born 2 May 1960), is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for West Worcestershire since 2010 Un ...

, chair of the UK Parliament's

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee is responsible for examining and scrutinizing the ...

, said a digital pound would not be introduced before 2030, and that people’s holdings would probably be limited to £10,000 as a way of avoiding the possibility of worsening any run on a bank; the European Union was considering a limit of 6,000 euros. In reply to a consultation, the government had said it would not seek to control people’s use of a digital currency but did not say it would not look at the data to see how the money was moving around. In January 2025, the Bank of England announced the creation of the 'Digital Pound Lab,' a technology sandbox designed to facilitate hands-on experimentation for a potential UK central bank digital currency. This initiative aims to test application programming interface functionality, explore innovative use cases, and assess potential business models for payment interface providers and external service interface providers. The Digital Pound Lab is part of the Bank's ongoing 'design phase,' which seeks to establish a clear proposition for a digital pound, subject to parliamentary approval and primary legislation.

References

External links

* {{Central_bank_digital_currency Bank of England Central bank digital currencies 2020s in the United Kingdom