The Bank of England (BoE) is one step closer to launching its central bank digital currency dubbed “Britcoin” following the conclusion of a test study. called Project Rosalind.
The Bank for International Settlements and the BoE launched the joint experiment in July 2022 to explore how prototypes of an Application Programming Interface (API) could be implemented in CBDC retail transactions..
A report of June 16 summarizing the second phase of the Rosalind Project concluded that a CBDC could make payments between individuals cheaper and more efficient, while allowing companies to create new financial products aimed at reducing fraudulent financial activity.
Total, the study developed 33 API functionalities and explored “more than 30 retail CBDC use cases”.
In addition to looking at how a CBDC would work on smartphones, retail stores and online stores, the study also explored the concept of “programmability,” a term that refers to customizing digital money to behave in specific ways once certain conditions are met..
CBDC programmability has been met with great skepticism, with critics claiming that a CBDC could be programmed to “act against” those who use it.
In general, the study concludes that a “well-designed” API layer could allow a central bank to interact with the private sector to “securely provide” retail CBDC payments.
Project Rosalind, from the #BISInnovationHub London Center & @bankofenglandexplored how a universal and extensible #API layer could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures and facilitate retail #CBDC payments pic.twitter.com/kDeo0yhrsR
— Bank for International Settlements (@BIS_org) June 16, 2023
The Rosalind project, from London’s #BISInnovationHub and @bankofengland, explored how a universal and extensible API layer could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures and facilitate CBDC retail payments pic.twitter.com/kDeo0yhrsR
“The Rosalind experiment has advanced central bank innovation in two key areas: exploring how an API layer could support a retail CBDC system, and how it could facilitate secure CBDC payments across a range of different use cases,” said Francesca Roadhead of the BIS London Innovation Center in a press release.
Despite the positive results of the Rosalind Project, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said a final decision on whether the country will launch a CBDC is still “a few years” away.
According to a report from Bloomberg of June 16, Cunliffe told attendees at Politico’s Global Tech Day conference that the odds of a CBDC project going ahead are currently “seven out of ten.”.
On the same day that the conclusions of the Rosalind Project were published, the blockchain company QuantNetwork advertisement your participation as a provider in the study. The announcement caused the price of the native token QNT (QNT) of Quant rose more than 20%, going from $96 to $117 in 12 hours.
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