Digital Pound Could Protect Consumers in Bank Runs, BOE Says

Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said a new digital version of the pound could help protect consumers in the event of a failure in the banking system, adding to arguments in favor of a project make a form of cash usable online.

The official said that consumers are already living “in an era of instantaneous bank runs” where depositors can move money quickly to another institution if they’re worried about the solvency of the bank where they keep deposits.

And while a so-called central bank digital currency, or CBDC, may “intensify” a run on a bank, as it ...