The Bank of England (BOE) asked applicants for the $244,000 contract to create a proof-of-concept (PoC) central bank digital currency wallet to provide questions about the project. The central bank responded by publishing its responses to more than 70 queries.
The BOE opened applications on December 9 and requested applications from suppliers. Before December 25, about 20 businesses turned in their applications and questions. After that, the BOE published the queries posed by the rival providers and provided its responses in an effort to shed light on the project.
The BOE claims that it plans to develop a back-end server for a core ledger, a mobile wallet app, and a retailer website. The bank made it clear that it will only use the PoC to increase its understanding and that it has not yet committed to creating a sample wallet. The BOE penned:
We’re utilizing this PoC to increase our knowledge and comprehension of potential interactions between CBDC products.
Though 28 applications were initially submitted, eight suppliers withdrew after the question phase. Nine small and medium-sized businesses and 11 large businesses submitted applications. The contract will be given to the selected applicant on January 31, according to the BOE.
In a live event that was streamed on November 23, BOE representatives Andrew Bailey and Sir Jon Cunliffe responded to inquiries from lawmakers. Regarding digital currencies, the officials appeared to view CBDCs as a revolution in the way that money will be used in the future. The functionality of money will undergo a revolution that is “driven by technology,” according to Sir Cunliffe.
An industry executive recently discussed how cryptocurrency can benefit CBDCs and vice versa in an interview with Cointelegraph. According to Itai Avneri, the deputy CEO of cryptocurrency exchange INX, regulated crypto and CBDCs may be complementary to one another.