Bank of England Pays £200k for PoC CBDC Wallet

The Bank of England (BoE), the central bank of the United Kingdom, is looking for a company to prepare a “proof of concept” for a cryptocurrency wallet that, in the future, could hold its own central bank digital currency (CBDC).

According to the request for applications published on 9 December 2012 on the UK’s Digital Marketplace, a government service where official institutions can look for private sector assistance for digital projects, BoE wants to pay a maximum of £200,000 for a basic version of a functional “Sample Wallet” that will be CBDC-compatible.

Until now, “no work has been done on a Sample Wallet for a potential CBDC,” the central bank stated in the application request.

The list of requirements set by the central bank is not long. The proof of concept wallet should allow to signup new users, inform about updates, present transactions, current and historical balances. The prepared product must provide CBDC deposits, withdrawals, and online P2P payments
Payments

One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonly the basis of exchange involves fiat currency or legal tender, be it in the form of cash, credit or bank transfers, debit, or checks. While typically associated with cash transfers, payments can also be made in anything of perceived value, be it stock or bartering – though this is far more limited today than it has been in the past.The Largest Players in the Payments IndustryFor most individuals, the payments industry is dominated currently by card companies such as Visa or Mastercard, which facilitate the use of credit or debit expenditures. More recently, this industry has seen the rise of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payments services, which have gained tremendous traction in Europe, the United States, and Asia, among other continents.One of the biggest parameters for payments is…