United Kingdom’s digital pound meets public backlash — Why?

British society is both civil and democratic, so it wasn’t unexpected that the government of the United Kingdom would “consult” the public before signing off on a digital version of the British pound. The response it received may have been surprising, though.

The public canvassing conducted jointly by His Majesty’s Treasury and the Bank of England between February and June of 2023 drew some 50,000 responses, and it unleashed a “public backlash,” according to The Telegraph — a U.K. newspaper — with “widespread public concern about privacy as well as anger over the possible consequences for cash.”

Not only could a digital pound, dubbed “Britcoin,” be used to surveil U.K. citizens, respondents feared, but it could also potentially destabilize the U.K. financial system because the digital pound would be easier for depositors to move out of commercial banks in times of crisis, promoting bank runs.

This latest pushback comes as many in the crypto sector continue to view central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) with suspicion — or as clumsy government attempts to snuff out private money, including decentralized cryptocurrencies.

Amid these concerns, it’s worth digging deeper into some of the public concerns brought to light in the most recent U.K. consultation. Are privacy and stability issues really a substantial risk for CBDCs in advanced Western economies? On the plus side, can state-issued digital currencies potentially advance financial inclusion? And are they really designed to put cryptocurrencies out of business?

Staying at the ‘forefront of technological change’

One can begin by asking why a digital pound is even needed, as some British parliamentarians recently asked. “In an increasingly digital society, the U.K. needs to keep pace with the speed of innovation that’s happening in the payments sector,” Ian Taylor, head of crypto and digital assets at KPMG UK, told Cointelegraph. “The Bank of England’s consultation into a proposed CBDC is a sensible approach to keep the UK at the forefront of technological change without committing yet to the substantial investment needed to roll out a digital pound.”

Others agreed that the U.K., like many countries around the world, is struggling to come to grips with an increasingly cash-free economy. “The government is attempting to strategically place itself to allow the use of digital currencies so it is able to compete with other regions on a global stage,” Cardiff…