Digital Pound Lab: Phase 1 Update: Overview of First Round of Use Cases (BOE)
The Bank of England (BOE) Digital Pound Lab Phase 1 has completed, showcasing various demonstration use cases for U.K. retail payments infrastructure. The BOE developed several core capabilities including verifiable credentials for privacy-preserving identity verification, payment requests via QR codes, digital cheques, allowances for delegated spending, e-commerce integrations with delivery-versus-payment features, and blockchain interoperability. External participants (Fluxpay Limited; LINK, in collaboration with Consult Hyperion; NOBO Finance, in collaboration with Applied Blockchain; and Yotra Limited) tested additional use cases such as tiered wallets, tourist wallets, point-of-sale payments, and conditional business-to-business payments. Phase 2 is now underway with applications open until March 2026, aiming to explore more innovative payment services that don’t currently exist, with a showcase event planned for July 2026. [Source: BOE]
ECB Calls for Experts to Help Explore Roles of Digital Euro Technical Service Providers (ECB)
The European Central Bank (ECB) is inviting technical service providers (TSPs) from the EU to participate in two expert-level workshops in early March 2026 focused on their role in supporting market readiness for a potential digital euro. Following the October 2025 announcement of the digital euro project’s next phase, which includes a pilot starting in the second half of 2027 and potential first issuance in 2029, these half-day workshops will explore how TSPs can support payment service providers in both distribution and acquiring/acceptance activities. Interested TSPs must apply by February 10, 2026, and participants will be selected based on factors including their EU establishment, relevant experience, and technical capabilities, with the goal of creating balanced and representative workshop groups that will help inform the upcoming digital euro pilot activities. [Source: ECB]
Upcoming Speaking Engagements:
The Digital Euro Conference 2026 (Frankfurt, March 26) will explore the future of money with a focus on CBDCs, stablecoins, and commercial bank tokens. This hybrid event offers the perfect platform to understand the future of digital money! [Register here and get 20% off the regular ticket price by using the Kiffmeister20 code!]
I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
