The Bank of England is consulting external experts on research designed to help set future policy which includes considering the effects of issuing its own Bitcoin-like digital currency. The One Bank Research Agenda discussion document, which aims to transform the way research is done at the bank, explains that the rise of digital currencies “has potentially profound implications for a financial system whose payments mechanism depends on bank deposits that need to be created through credit,” and goes on to ask what the impact on existing payment and settlement systems would be should it introduce its own digital currency in future.