UK Begins To Explore The Possibility of Establishing ‘Britcoin’ Digital Currency

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced a joint task force between the country’s Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) to explore the possibility of introducing a digital currency backed by the central bank.

Such a currency could possibly enable businesses and consumers to bypass commercial banks when making payments and hold accounts directly with the central bank, Reuters said. However, the UK government and the BoE did note that they haven’t yet decided on whether to introduce a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) in the country.

They emphasised that, while a CBDC would be a new form of money, it would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. Despite that, it didn’t stop Rishi from tweeting this:

The announcement is rather interesting given how the BoE’s Governor Andrew Bailey has previously criticised bitcoin for being an unstable store of value and an inefficient way to make transactions. Meanwhile, England is far from the only country that is exploring digital currency as when it comes to CBDC, China is seen to be ahead of the curve.

Its central bank has already launched pilot projects across the country which allow people to test digital yuan. In fact, authorities are even working on allowing foreign athletes and visitors to try the digital currency during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, according to CNBC.

AirAsia Digital Partners With The Government To Explore Delivery Using Drones

Will we see drone deliveries in Malaysia soon? Teleport, AirAsia Digital’s logistics venture, just announced a collaboration with the government’s Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) to launch the Urban Drone Delivery Sandbox and explore the long-term viability of an urban drone delivery service.

The pilot project for automated drone delivery from AirAsia’s e-commerce platforms including airasia Shop is set to be executed through a 6-month phased approach at a government test site in Cyberjaya. The service is currently in a testing stage with two local drone operators, VStream Revolution Sdn Bhd and Meraque Services Sdn Bhd.

The project’s first phase in Cyberjaya will assess the capability, experience, approval process, deployment readiness and service expansion of the drone operators. Upon successful trials, the service will be deployed and might be expanded beyond the sandbox environment.

Responding to the partnership, Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said, “The drone delivery of goods can be expanded and scaled up beyond e-commerce, such as delivery of essential or medical supplies to areas that are rural, remote, or affected by natural disasters.”

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said that drone delivery would enable the company to keep up with the increasing demand for e-commerce and remain agile in a shifting economic landscape.