The Digital Currency White paper
At the beginning of this month, techUK (the UK’s trade association focused on digital technology, companies and organisations) published its Future of Digital Currencies white paper. The paper seeks to provide a basis for analysis and discussion around the continued prominence and development of digital currencies.
Mathew Evans, Director of Markets, techUK commented: “We have seen interest and debates on digital currencies really taking off over the last 12 months.” Unsurprisingly, financial commentators often focus on digital currencies' volatility, the apparent lack of regulation, spurious ownership safeguards and accountability analysis. Indeed, news platforms have recently been rife with articles about the rise and/or violent diminution in Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Tether, to name a few.
Digital currencies continue to surge in popularity; it is no longer of question of whether digital currencies will become a viable and commonplace payment option in the future, but which of the current currencies (and their formats) will last and truly integrate/embed themselves in our society. Acknowledging this unstoppable force, the focus is therefore shifting amongst banks and governments. Rather than condemning digital currencies for the potential disruption they may bring, there is a push towards understanding and transparency.
"Digital Currencies are as key to the digital future as railways were to the first industrial revolution; however key questions need to be addressed on risk, ownership, connectivity, and user acceptance;” comments Rodger Oates, Chair of techUK’s Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group and Consulting Partner, BFSI, at Tata Consultancy Services UK.
This view—one that has been publicly shared by six of the world’s central banks (including the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan)—is galvanizing a thirst for better understanding of digital currencies and is likely to lead to the introduction of a number of central bank digital currencies.
There is still so much mystery surrounding digital currencies. As such, in publishing this white paper techUK aims to:
Define what is meant by a digital currency;
Describe different types of digital currencies i.e.: cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and central bank issued digital currencies;
Address the hype: can digital currencies provide a faster and superior payment infrastructure;
Consider what challenges each will face in broader adoption;
Highlight what we believe is the potential associated with each type of digital currency; and
Provide recommendations to governments, regulators on how they should consider and promote their wider adoption.
Access techUK Future of Digital Currencies