(Bloomberg) --Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the integration of cryptocurrencies into the global financial system has stalled as the coins struggle to win over regulators and the public.
"My own sense is that it's not taking off as what I might call a core financial service," Bailey told the UK Parliament's Treasury Committee on Wednesday. "For instance, using Bitcoin as a payments method is pretty inefficient."
Bailey said regulators need to "keep a very close eye" on the market but added that the cryptocurrency market's integration into mainstream finance has not "kept the momentum."
While a growing number of Britons hold cryptocurrencies, they have struggled to break into the mainstream and represent only a small part of the global financial system. Bailey reiterated his long-held remark that unbacked coins have no intrinsic value.
UK regulators are pushing ahead with plans to regulate the market with the collapse of crypto exchange FTX Group heightening concerns over stronger ties with traditional finance. The BOE is also separately developing a digital pound to help head off some of the risks from any major adoption of cryptoassets.
"We had a bit of momentum a few years ago," Bailey said. "It actually hasn't kept up."
Sarah Breeden, the BOE's deputy governor for financial stability, said in the same hearing that part of the reason traditional finance is less involved in crypto is due to a lack of a regulatory framework "that has enabled them to do it in a safe way."
However, she highlighted that regulators are making moves in the cryptocurrency space, pointing to the UK's plans and the US Securities and Exchange Commission's pending decision on whether to approve exchanged-traded funds for bitcoin.
(C)2024 Bloomberg L.P.
