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Bank of England Governor Insists Digital Payments (but Not Crypto) Are Sticking Around
BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said cryptocurrencies "as originally formulated" are not the ideal form of digital currency.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 11:01 a.m. Published Jan 25, 2021, 6:33 p.m.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey held the central banker's line against cryptocurrency proliferation at the Davos conference Monday.
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At the same time, Bailey, a panelist at Davos' digital currency talk, stressed that digital innovation in payments is here to stay. It's just a matter of finding the right design and governance model for a "lasting digital currency," he said.
"I don't think we're there yet," said Bailey, adding, "Honestly, I don't think cryptocurrencies as originally formulated are it."
Bailey said the problem rests with value and volatility. People want their payments conducted over a stable medium, which the original cryptocurrency, bitcoin, certainly lacks.
Enter fiat innovation. Bailey suggested fiat systems could be made more efficient through digital means.
"We're right still to debate stablecoin, we're right to debate central bank digital currency. Those issues, I think, are very much up for grabs," he said.
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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From Lockstep to Lag, Bitcoin Poised to Catch Up With Small Cap Highs
The Federal Reserve begins Treasury bill purchases later Friday, starting with $8.2 billion as part of its reserve management program.
What to know:
- The Russell 2000 index has pushed to new all time highs alongside strength across U.S. equities and metals, while bitcoin remains 27% below its peak, marking a rare divergence after years of moving in sync.
- With small-cap stocks highly sensitive to falling interest rates and 2026 earning-per-share growth expectations near 49%, according to Goldman Sachs, improving macroeconomic conditions could realign bitcoin and crypto with small-cap strength.
- The Federal Reserve starts Treasury bill purchases today with an initial $8.2 billion operation, the first step in a $40 billion reserve management program running until April.
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