The Bank of England does not plan to develop a wallet for retail scenarios for the use of the national digital currency, Katie Fortune, senior manager of the regulator's CBDC division, has told The Block. According to her:
"I think it’s safe to say it’s highly unlikely that the Bank would issue a retail wallet."
Fortune asserts it is more likely that these digital wallets will be developed by the private sector.
It must be noted that the Bank of England has not yet made a decision on whether to launch a CBDC. The central bank, along with the UK Treasury, will hold public consultations on this issue until the end of 2022.
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Fortune has highlighted most of the technical aspects of the proposed tool have not yet been agreed. According to her, it is not yet clear whether the CBDC will be based on blockchain technology. Fortune has said:
"That’s still a really open question for us. It’s not taken as a given that it is built on a blockchain, it’s not taken that it’s not."
In the event the Bank of England decides to issue a CBDC after the advisory document is published, Fortune has said the project will enter a development phase that involves "building some prototypes." According to her, the UK's national digital currency will not see the light of day until 2025.