Under the Bank of England’s proposal, Britons are limited to 20,000 digital pounds.

By Huw Jones and Alexander Smith; Edited by News Gate Team

Reuters, London, February 7 – According to Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe, if Britain adopts a digital currency, each citizen would be limited to 20,000 digital pounds ($24,000).

The British government announced on Monday that although no decision has been taken, it and the BoE were continuing to work on a potential digital pound that might coming into use in the second part of this decade and be stored in a “wallet” given by banks.

In a speech, Cunliffe suggested a cap of between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds per person as the ideal compromise between risk management and promoting widespread adoption of the digital pound.

A limit of 10,000 pounds would mean that three quarters of people could receive their pay in digital pounds as well as holding pre-existing balances in the same account, while a 20,000 pound limit would allow almost everyone to use digital pounds for day-to-day transactions, Cunliffe said.

In light of the fact that a digital pound would not be a means of keeping wealth, he informed members of UK Finance, an organization representing the banking sector, that money exceeding the cap would be “swept” into a customer’s business bank account.

Cunliffe continued, “On the flip side, you could say I need a small wallet full of internet dollars to buy stuff on Amazon.

Global central banks are looking into digital currencies, and the European Union is expected to release a draft law in May that lays out the rules for a hypothetical digital euro.

The European Central Bank will decide this fall whether to move forward with a digital euro, but the bill would need to be ratified by EU member states and the European Parliament.

Burkhard Balz, executive board member of Germany’s Bundesbank, told a conference on Tuesday that a key aspect to be decided is whether a digital euro would have legal tender status, meaning it could be used to settle a debt in court.

Cunliffe said a digital pound would have the same legal status as cash.

($1 = 0.8332 pounds)

By Huw Jones and Alexander Smith; Edited by News Gate Team

Britons face 20,000 digital pound cap under Bank of England plan https://t.co/YzHzrTwkCY pic.twitter.com/M8XT6lMFzt

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 7, 2023