The arrival of electronic currencies could revolutionize the way people pay for goods and services, in much the same way as the internet shook up how we access information, the Bank of England has said. Cashless forms of payment like the cryptocurrency Bitcoin "potentially combined with mobile technology, may reshape the mechanisms for making secure payments", the central bank said.
The Bank of England suggested that it could create its own digital currency. It could make the new system available the same way it does banknotes. However, they would need to conduct more research to develop the technology "without compromising a central bank's ability to control its currency and secure the system against systemic attack", the Bank said. The Bank added, "Creating such a system would entail creating a protocol for value transfer over the internet, akin to what [Tim] Berners-Lee did for information."
The concept of countries launching their own electronic currencies has gained momentum in recent weeks, as Yanis Varoufakis became Greece's newest finance minister. The Greek-born economist has previously suggested that "the technology of Bitcoin, if suitably adapted, can be employed profitably in the eurozone as a weapon against deflation".
