The Bank of England, the UK's central bank, launched its long-awaited digital pound project, pitching the potential to create a new payment system and form of money. The potential digital currency would be issued solely by the central bank, with households and businesses able to hold the currency in a digital wallet accessible via smartphones or cards, a consultation document published on Tuesday said. ''A UK central bank digital currency – a ‘digital pound’ – would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses for their everyday payments needs," Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, and Bank ... (full story)