Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey says a “lasting” digital currency has yet to be invented.
Speaking during the World Economic Forum yesterday on “Resetting Digital Currencies” the Bank of England governor reacted to a question on whether crypto is here to stay for the long term with scepticism:
“Are cryptocurrencies here to stay? Digital innovation in payments – yes. Have we landed on what I would call the design, governance, and arrangements for a lasting digital currency? No, I don’t think we’re there yet […] I don’t think cryptocurrencies as originally formulated are it.”
Instead, he said, there’s “the whole question of people having the assurance that their payments are going to be made in something with stable value, which as the history lesson says ultimately links back to what we call fiat currency.”
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He however noted that digital innovation has come to stay. For that reason, he said leaders are right to continue to debate the merits of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies as a lasting solution for payments.
“We’ve got big challenges still to solve where it should help us,” he said.
Those big challenges include lowering the cost of cross-border remittances and payments, according to Bailey.
