Today, Ripple is excited to announce it is joining the Digital Pound Foundation, a non-profit focused on the development and implementation of a digital Pound in the United Kingdom. Ripple, as a Foundation member, will be represented on the board by Susan Friedman, Head of Policy. Ripple’s participation in the Foundation continues our ongoing work engaging central banks globally on technical and policy issues related to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Ripple believes the UK has long been at the forefront of encouraging responsible innovation and growth in the crypto-asset space, and development of a digital Pound is the logical outgrowth of that work. “We are excited to support the design and implementation of a digital Pound in partnership with the Digital Pound Foundation,” Friedman noted. “The Foundation will help advance the UK’s goal to build a more inclusive and sustainable financial system.”
The Foundation believes a digital Pound will underpin the UK’s transition to an innovative digital economy and society. The implementation of a CBDC, alongside other forms of digital money, will ensure the UK’s place in the emerging global digital landscape.
Defining the Future of Money
Today, over 80% of central banks are actively exploring some form of sovereign-backed cryptocurrency—including CBDCs. The Bank of England is actively working to navigate the practical and technological challenges of designing, implementing and operating a digital Pound that could play an important role in expanding access to central bank money by households and businesses. The Bank of England has also recognized that the evolving digital payments landscape brings the potential for faster, cheaper, sustainable and more efficient payments with greater functionality.
But achieving the full potential of digital payments requires collaboration with a wide range of actors. This is precisely what the Digital Pound Foundation aims to achieve—bringing together a diverse array of members to ensure the UK maintains its globally competitive lead in financial innovation. As more and more central banks implement CBDCs, interoperability, privacy and complete sovereignty will be key to enable central banks to move money cost-effectively, reliably and instantly.
Ripple Leads the Global Race Toward Embracing CBDCs
Just last month, Ripple announced a partnership with Bhutan’s central bank, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA), to pilot retail, cross-border and wholesale payment use cases for a digital Ngultrum using its CBDC solution. The partnership will help Bhutan enhance digital payments and expand financial inclusion efforts while maintaining its commitment to sustainability. As Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country in the world, Ripple’s carbon-neutral solution is a natural fit to help Bhutan meet this goal.
