UK Addresses Privacy Concerns in Digital Pound Consultation Results

According to CoinDesk, the UK government and the Bank of England (BoE) released the results of their digital pound consultation on Thursday, addressing privacy concerns raised by respondents. The consultation, which closed in June last year, received 50,000 responses, with many expressing concerns about privacy. Experts believe the government's approach to tackling these concerns, including the proposed platform model and legislation, could be effective. The platform model suggests that the BoE would only provide the core infrastructure and ledger for a digital pound, while private firms would act as wallet providers. These private platforms would require identity information of wallet account holders to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. The government has also committed to enshrining individual privacy and control in law before launching a digital pound, which could be decided in 2025 or 2026. However, the digital pound is still in its design phase, and it is not yet clear what the government's legislation to safeguard people's privacy will look like. The government has committed to consulting more with the public before making a final decision on the digital pound's future.