The Bank of England (BoE) is open-minded about the possibility of central bank digital currency (CBDC), Mark Carney said recently, Bloomberg reported.

Speaking on a panel in Stockholm on the future of central banking, the BoE governor said that while the central bank is open-minded about CBDCs, it is unlikely that they will be issued anytime soon.

He went on to say that cryptocurrencies currently do not perform the role of money.

Earlier in March, Carney had said that cryptocurrencies are failing to fulfil their role as money. He said at the time “The long, charitable answer is that cryptocurrencies act as money, at best, only for some people and to a limited extent, and even then only in parallel with the traditional currencies of the users. The short answer is they are failing.”

The BoE embarked on a multi-year research programme to explore the implications of CBDCs back in 2016. Earlier this month, the BoE published a new working paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), exploring their design principles and balance sheet implications.

Other central banks including the Bank of Canada, and Norges Bank, and Riksbank, are also exploring the possibility of issuing CBDCs.