Bank of England to Open Settlement System to Private Firms, Distributed LedgersThe Bank of England remains bearish on bitcoin, but the central bank has announced plans to overhaul its settlement system to allow private payment systems, including those based on blockchains and other types of distributed ledgers, to interface with the platform.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney announced the plans in a speech delivered on Thursday at Mansion House in London, explaining the bank will execute an “ambitious rebuild” of its Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), which serves as the “backbone of every payment in the UK.”
The revamped RTGS will allow private payment platforms to connect directly to the central bank’s system — even for cross-border payments. He specifically stated that platforms using distributed ledger technology (DLT) — which includes, but is not limited to, blockchains — will be able to connect to the bank’s network.
“RTGS is being re-built so that new private payment systems, including those using distributed ledger, can simply plug into our system. Our new, hard infrastructure will be future-proofed to your imaginations, opening up a range of potential innovations in wholesale markets, and corporate banking and retail services,” he said, adding:
“No longer will access to central bank money be the exclusive preserve of banks.”
https://www.ccn.com/bank-of-england-to-open-settlement-system-to-private-firms-distributed-ledgers/