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The Bank of England is seeking applicants to develop a sample of a digital wallet for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
According to the details of the project, an applicant should develop a product, which will have a sign-up function, an option to freeze/unfreeze wallet (and payments), send CBDCs and so on. The central bank is offering a ?200,000 (~$245,000) contract to successful bidders, who will be able to develop the wallet for both iOS and Android devices within five months. Latest start date is set for January 2023.
With the wallet, the Bank of England wants to make the CBDC product "more tangible for internal and external stakeholders, eg. as a prototype for future user testing."
In late October, the UK House of Commons gave an approval to a series of amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, under which cryptocurrencies will be regulated in the financial services area.
Andrew Griffith, a member of parliament, noted that the innovation would give the Treasury an option to respond quickly to developments in the industry and provide a "flexible" approach to supervision.
