The Bank of England is considering shelving the digital pound plan.

As doubts grow about the benefits of the digital pound project, Bank of England officials are considering shelving plans to launch a digital pound for households. This is the latest sign of waning global support for state-backed digital currencies.
Informed sources say the Bank of England is privately urging banks to accelerate payment innovation, so that similar benefits can be achieved even without launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for consumers.
The Bank of England wants to be ready to launch a CBDC if it eventually becomes necessary. However, if private enterprises continue to roll out new electronic payment technologies, the central bank is willing to take a back seat. Its staff believe that the gains from pushing ahead with the digital pound have diminished.
The Bank of England declined to comment. But Governor Andrew Bailey told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, “If cooperation with commercial banks is successful, I would need more reasons to be convinced of the necessity of launching the so-called ‘Britcoin’.”
He told the Treasury Committee, “I think this is a reasonable starting point. If the cooperation is successful, I would question why we still need to introduce a new form of currency.”
The Bank of England’s attitude has shifted compared with a few years ago. Previously, officials from the Bank of England and the Treasury had said they believed a digital pound “may” be needed. After the current “design” phase is completed, the two sides will jointly decide whether to proceed with the project.
The Bank of England governor has previously publicly expressed doubts and focused on pushing banks to accelerate the tokenization of deposits – seen as a way to build a stable bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.
This shift reflects that global interest in state-led digital currencies is fading as stablecoins and other payment innovations emerge. The Trump administration blocked further development of a U.S. CBDC on grounds of financial stability; South Korea’s central bank also suspended its digital currency pilot project last month. Recent research by Bank of England staff has found that the benefits of launching a CBDC are decreasing. Senior officials have stepped down as chairmen of committees discussing the project with the private sector, which may also be a sign of declining interest.
The Bank of England’s digital pound project is currently in the design phase, putting the UK behind many other countries and regions. The central bank and the government have not yet made a final decision on whether to launch a CBDC.
However, the potential launch of a digital pound has raised many concerns: first, issues of consumer privacy; second, the possibility of destabilizing effects if investors flock to state-backed digital currencies for safety during crises, draining funds from other parts of the financial system. In the UK, this fledgling project has also attracted the attention of conspiracy theory groups, been criticized by lawmakers, and received more than 50,000 responses during a public consultation.
In June this year, Bailey said he was still not “convinced that we need to create a new form of currency”. While he has indicated support for launching a wholesale CBDC for transactions between financial institutions, he has been cooler towards a retail digital currency for households.
Even so, Bailey expressed concern about the rise of stablecoins, especially if stablecoins launched by foreign or big tech companies gain popularity in the UK, which could erode public trust in traditional currencies. This might prompt the Bank of England to launch its own alternative.
Some within the Bank of England believe the benefits of a CBDC have gradually diminished. A report published by the Bank of England at the end of last year warned that the benefits of launching a CBDC have fallen sharply in recent years as consumers increasingly use existing online payment technologies.
Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden and Treasury Director-General for Financial Services Gwynne Nash have recently stepped down as chairs of the CBDC Engagement Forum, with lower-ranking staff attending instead. The latest meeting minutes, published in April, said this was because the project had “entered a more detailed design phase”.