Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s position on crypto apparently hasn’t changed despite the economic fallout of the pandemic. According to an Oct. 12 report from Reuters, Bailey spoke at a Bank of England, or BoE, question and answer session with members of the U.K. public on Monday. At that time, he stated that he was “very nervous” about people using Bitcoin (BTC) for payments. The governor said people should consider the asset's volatility when it came time to invest. “I have to be honest, it is hard to see that Bitcoin has what we tend to call intrinsic value,” …

With Central Bank Digital Currencies a point of focus across the globe, a number of countries' banking authorities have jointly produced a document discussing the currency type at length. The Bank for International Settlements told Cointelgraph in a statement that a group of seven central banks and the BIS had collaborated on the report, "identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDCs to help central banks meet their public policy objectives." The BIS is a global institution helping out national central banks. CBDCs have been a hot topic in 2020, with a number of countries expressing interest in …

Bitcoin (BTC) is getting its best “advertisement” once more as another major central bank floats the idea of charging people to save their money. As Bloomberg reported quoting minutes of a meeting held Thursday, the Bank of England (BoE) has become the latest central bank to discuss negative interest rates. Negative rates “would drive BTC adoption” According to the results of the meeting, the BoE will enter discussions with banking regulators over negative rates, which effectively mean lending institutions, and, hence, savers must pay to store cash. The reason is the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on the economy, along …

Not unlike many other jurisdictions around the world, Russia has come to recognize the potential benefits and risks flowing from cryptocurrencies by taking its first step to define and codify digital assets. The new Russian legislation dubbed “On Digital Financial Assets” sets a clear direction for the treatment of cryptocurrencies by authorities and how both individuals and businesses can handle them in everyday practice. Nevertheless, the new legislation may give pause to payments companies and fintech companies keen on expanding into the Russian market. While the approach of the Russian legislature toward cryptocurrencies — or digital assets, as they are …

During a virtual conference hosted by the Brookings Institute, Andrew Bailey, Bank of England’s (BoE) governor, stressed that crypto assets are just “unsuited to the world of payments.” In prepared remarks on the future of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, Bailey qualified Bitcoin (BTC) as an asset that has “no connection at all to money.” Also, he showed reluctant himself to believe crypto assets are a proper investment opportunity, because “their value can fluctuate quite, widely, unsurprisingly.” Bailey provided such comments while talking about the picking up in the pace of innovation in payments. However, on the stablecoins, the governor commented that …

The Bank of England will take part in a key meeting tomorrow to discuss central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and their possible infrastructural designs. Hosted by global central banking think tank, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), on Aug. 19, the roundtable will involve the BoE’s senior fintech specialist, Simon Scorer, alongside delegates from the Swiss National Bank, ING Nederland and the Hungarian National Bank (Magyar Nemzeti Bank). The CEO of enterprise-focused blockchain platform Cypherium, Sky Guo, will also join the discussion. A key focus of the meeting will be to tackle the ways in which blockchain technology …

United Kingdom-based blockchain firm L3COS has submitted a proposal to the Bank of England, or BoE, for a blockchain-based operating system to power a central bank-issued digital currency, or CBDC. L3COS described the proposal as a response to the consultation document on CBDC published by BoE in March — which identified several benefits and challenges associated with central bank virtual currencies and invited feedback from technology providers, financial institutions, and academics. Blockchain firm pitches CBDC system to BoE In an article published by U.K.-based outlet Verdict on June 12, L3COS founder and chief executive Zurab Ashvil proclaimed that the firm’s …

These are perilous times, and it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that the United States Federal Reserve is doing its part to alleviate the suffering — which began with the coronavirus pandemic and has spread to the global economy. It’s printing more money. “There is an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve,” Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told Scott Pelley of CBS on March 22, adding: “We will do whatever we need to do to make sure there is enough cash in the financial system.” The U.S. Federal Reserve itself reinforced that message …

Jon Cuncliffe, the deputy governor for financial stability of the United Kingdom’s central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), has warned that the emergence of a cryptocurrency economy may weaken or eliminate bank credit issuance. In a speech delivered to the London School of Economics on Feb. 28, Cunliffe predicted that the integration of stablecoins on social media platforms could lead to people putting much of their money currently held with banks into stablecoin wallets, warning: “In such a world, and depending how and whether stablecoins were backed with other financial assets, the supply of credit to the real economy …

Bank of England (BoE) chief cashier Sarah John has expressed opinions favoring state-issued digital currencies, according to a Feb. 22 article published by The Telegraph. She urged other central banks to consider developing central bank cryptocurrencies in response to recent moves from private companies’ in the digital payments sector. John stated that it is “really important” to consider that central banks think about” central bank digital currencies [CBDCs] “as an option” in responding to major tech companies’ efforts to develop stablecoins. The BoE official warned that inaction may result in regulators being forced to play catch-up with private companies in …

Ever since the vision for a Libra stablecoin was unveiled in its white paper back in June, Facebook has suffered a startling backlash from countries around the world. Some American politicians have claimed the digital currency has the potential to be more dangerous than 9/11. Lawmakers over in Europe haven’t been too kind either, with Germany’s finance minister warning he is “very, very skeptical” about the project. The main bone of contention with Libra has been the notion of a private company creating a currency designed to rival the likes of the dollar and the pound. Critics fear it would …

Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that people need to acknowledge the issues Facebook is attempting to solve with Libra, regardless of the project’s potential downsides. Carney delivered his remarks at the Financial Stability Report press conference as seen on the Bank of England’s YouTube channel on July 11. Carney said: “It’s way too expensive to do domestic payments. It’s way too slow, and that hurts consumers and businesses. It stifles innovation, and it’s far too expensive to send money cross-border, and there are huge financial inclusion issues related to that and costs related to that. So, while we …