The Bank of England has launched a competition for Bitcoin enthusiasts to make a positive difference in society. The competition’s mission is to maintain monetary and financial stability in the United Kingdom.
This competition is open to students from all countries, and winners will have the chance to get the prize of a paid internship or a place at a graduate assessment centre.
Founded in 1694, the Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. Sometimes known as the ‘Old Lady’ of Threadneedle Street, the Bank’s mission is to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.
According to the official statement from the Bank of England:
“There’s a lot of buzz around blockchain. It’s a technology that allows people who don’t know each other to trust a shared record of events. And its potential won’t just impact financial services. Many believe that blockchain could track and verify almost any digital record.”
To participate, students must submit their applications by December 7th.
The Bank of England is exploring the potential of the Blockchain
We talked with experts from the UK to find out why the Bank of England has launched this competition:
Simon Dixon, CEO of BnkToTheFuture.com and Fund Manager of Bitcoin Capital commented:
"It is great that the Bank of England is exploring the potential of the Blockchain within the UK banking system, but the reality is that Bitcoin is the most interesting Blockchain there is as it has the ability to clear funds without a central bank and is opening up financial innovation on a global scale. Taking a decentralised technology / currency like Bitcoin and centralising it by calling it a Blockchain is interesting to watch but subject to similar problems as we see in the existing central banking model.”
Simon Dixon adds that the money supply can be rigged, the transactions are verified by financial institutions that rely on honesty and trust that has proven to fail time and time again. “The only one of those that is working at scale is Bitcoin and Bitcoin needs no support from the Bank of England."
Jamie Burke, CEO & founder of OutlierVentures.io said:
"Clearly the BOE recognise the kind of people they want to attract into their organisation; innovative and with a social conscience will be thinking about blockchains already. So, whilst it would be great to think anything entered into the competition could go on and be actualised it is clearly a way to attract the right profile. It’s been said many times but the blockchain space has some of the brightest minds on the planet working on it at the moment so it’s the best recruiting pool for innovative and enquiring minds.”
This is not the first contest for students. MIT also attracted everyone who wants to received a prize of the amount of $15k.
Recall, that Britain has allocated money to the study of Blockchain and considering becoming a center of the world in the cryptocurrency space.