Treasury and Bank of England officials used computers to “read” the public’s views on their planned digital currency after being swamped with more than 50,000 submissions, many concerned about privacy and surveillance.
In a joint report, the two bodies set out more details of plans for the currency — once dubbed Britcoin by Rishi Sunak — including a decision that holders should not earn interest and that holdings should be capped at £10,000 to £20,000.
They said that any final decision on introducing a central bank digital currency would not be made until “the middle of the decade at the earliest” and only after parliamentary approval. They also pledged to put in privacy safeguards, but said the system would not guarantee users’ anonymity because of
