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After bashing the cryptocurrency industry for years, the Bank of England has decided to go down the central bank digital currency path by collaborating with MIT. Thus, England’s central bank has become the second such institution to partner with the prominent university on the matter.
BoE Joins Forces With MIT
The announcement shared earlier this week informed that the two entities began their collaboration on whether the banking institution should develop and launch a CBDC back in February this year.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) agreed on a twelve-month research project to determine the pros and cons of digitalizing the pound. More specifically, the team will look into “potential technical challenges, trade-offs, opportunities, and risks involved in designing a CBDC system.”
It’s worth noting, though, that this research doesn’t necessarily mean that the BoE will launch a CBDC.
“This work is focused on exploratory technology research and is not intended to develop an operational CBDC. No decision has been made on whether to introduce a CBDC in the UK, which would be a major national infrastructure project.” – reads the statement.
The Bank of England and its Governor – Andrew Bailey – have been among the most vocal critics of the crypto industry, claiming that people should be prepared to lose all their money if they invest in bitcoin. However, the institution has not yet bet big on a CBDC, unlike many other central banks that have displayed a significant resentment toward BTC.
Bank of Canada Works With MIT
The BoE is not the first major central bank to cooperate with the giant university. CryptoPotato reported earlier this month that the Bank of Canada also tapped MIT’s digital arm to conduct research on its own potential CBDC.
The process will work in a similar manner as it should take one year. Also, both parties want to determine if digitalizing the Canadian dollar is a suitable move for the Bank of Canada.
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