Several companies including Ripple, Avalanche, and Accenture have joined the newly founded ‘Digital Pond Foundation’, a Non-Profit Organisation working to promote the adoption of digital currencies including CBDCs.
As per the announcement, Susan Friedman, head of policy at Ripple, will join the foundation as a board member. Friedman noted:
“We are excited to support the design and implementation of a digital Pound in partnership with the Digital Pound Foundation. The Foundation will help advance the UK’s goal to build a more inclusive and sustainable financial system.”
Members of the organization include several companies active in the growth of the blockchain sector such as Avalanche, Accenture, Billon Group, CGI Group, Electroneum, Quant, and Ripple.
In the company’s announcement, Ripple noted that the UK has been a driving force behind responsible innovation in the crypto-market, and “development of a digital Pound is the logical outgrowth of that work”.
Ripple, one of the founders of the Digital Pound Foundation, said that about 80% of central banks around the world are doing some form of research on CBDC. The Bank of England also set up a working group on the design and implementation of CBDC. Ripple’s announcement read:
“The Bank of England has also recognized that the evolving digital payments landscape brings the potential for faster, cheaper, sustainable and more efficient payments with greater functionality.”