Digital Assets

Exploring the 
Digital Pound

Why is the Digital Pound crucial for the future of finance in the UK?
Understanding the Digital Pound is key to navigating future financial landscapes, offering insights into digital innovation, user security, and economic implications.
As of late 2023, the UK is in the consultation phase for the Digital Pound, aiming for a design that balances innovation with user safety and financial stability.
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Online Course

Format

20 mins

Video duration

Intermediate

Level

Badge

On Completion

Badge of completion

With this online course, you will:
  • Gain insights into the surge in central banks around the world exploring and developing CBDCs.
  • Explore the various reasons why central banks are considering issuing CBDCs
  • Learn about its current development stage, and how it might reshape the financial landscape in the UK.
  • Develop the skills to analyse the impact of the digital pound using a PESTL framework.
Skills

Fintech Literacy

PESTL Analysis

Cryptocurrency Understanding

Digital Strategy

Policy Evaluation

Course Lessons

The Global Rise of CBDCs

Chapter 1 outlines the extensive global interest in Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), with 87 countries, representing over 90% of global GDP, investigating or developing CBDCs. Despite this widespread interest, most are still in exploratory or developmental phases, with a few like Jamaica and the Bahamas having launched CBDCs. China is highlighted for its advanced but still in pilot phase CBDC program.

Why Central Banks are Going Digital

Chapter 2 discusses the scepticism surrounding CBDCs, questioning whether they truly address an existing financial gap or are solutions-seeking problems. It delves into the rapid and unexpected rise of digital currencies, which took many central banks by surprise, and their subsequent rush to explore CBDCs as both a means of modernising financial systems and potentially enhancing financial inclusion.

Demystifying the Digital Pound

Chapter 3 focuses on the Bank of England's cautious and comprehensive approach towards the potential issuance of a digital pound. Engaging in public consultations and technological design, the Bank is in a design phase without a definite decision to issue a CBDC, projecting a launch timeline between 2026 and 2030.

The Digital Pound: A PESTL Analysis

Chapter 4 explores the supportive legal and political environment in the UK for creating a digital pound, balancing technological advancements and environmental benefits against societal concerns. The potential for programmable money to infringe on privacy and freedom highlights the social tensions surrounding CBDCs.

CBDCs vs. Cryptocurrencies

Chapter 5 compares and examines the fundamental tension between the decentralisation ethos of cryptocurrencies and the centralised nature of CBDCs. While acknowledging CBDCs may not directly replace cryptocurrencies, it posits CBDCs as an innovative addition to the financial landscape, potentially serving as a digital alternative to cash.

The Future of Money: The Digital Pound and Beyond

Chapter 6 analysis CBDCs' competitive edge over stablecoins, particularly those pegged to fiat currencies. CBDCs, with their central bank backing, are posited as having a significant advantage over fiat-backed stablecoins in terms of trust, regulatory clarity, and potentially broader utility in the financial system.

Meet your instructor - Olu Omoyele

Founder & CEO, Midelatory Consulting Limited & DeFi Planet

Olu has 20 years of public & private sector experience in financial regulatory policy and banking risk management (ex Bank of England & Bank of America Merrill Lynch). He has a postgraduate Law degree from King’s College London and a certificate in ‘Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application’ from MIT Sloan. Olu runs DeFi Planet, a Web3 publication; and Midelatory Consulting, an independent financial risk & regulation advisory firm.