[2017-11-05] China is developing its own digital currency

[CryptoBry]

China’s central bank is conducting research to issue the country’s own sovereign digital currency, a move in parallel with similar efforts ongoing in Russia, even as the government has doubled down on banning the use and exchange of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Digital legal tender can help bring down transaction costs, extend financial services to rural areas and increase the efficiency of monetary policies, according to Yao Qian, who leads the research at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank.

“The development of digital economy needs central bank-issued electronic currency more than ever,” Yao said during a Saturday forum in Beijing. “It’s crucial to speed up the research and issuance.”

Read about this here...

[Taki]

China is the only place where national digital currency is going to succeed, well, maybe one of such places. We have examples already when a country use some other inside currency for business. Did you hear about Swiss WIR? I suppose China is plan to create something the similar for relationships between producers and buyers inside the country with some easy terms. If it is so that is really going to be progressive for all country.

[Embeco]

Rumors regarding this are not new: Crypto / Blockchain is very interesting for the Chinese government because it is transparent, easy to control and while pseudonymous it is definitely not anonymous (in most cases).

[ImHash]

Paper or digital, When it is a centralized currency there is nothing new about it. They think if they issue some digital currency in form of a coin like bitcoin then it'll rise in price over %3000? No one can ban cryptocurrencies, How would you know which one of your citizens own any cryptocurrency? They are developing it after decades other countries had been using it? They are using digital money for years, It's just used within their own banking systems, It's centralized, It's actually the same paper money but being digitally stored and transferred.

[1Referee]

It's centralized, It's actually the same paper money but being digitally stored and transferred.

It doesn't bring anything new from the side of the government. If we look at how the digital fiat infrastructure is set up in most well developed countries, it will not make any sort of difference when they decide to launch their own digital currency (whatever that may end up being). I can walk into any store and instantly purchase whatever I want, either through my phone, or with my NFC enabled banking card. It's free, instant, comes with insurance on purchases, etc. Governments are trying to launch their own crypto currency in an attempt to distract people away from Bitcoin and such. They think that just by coming up with their own crypto currency, people will drop Bitcoin to - it's a twisted form of logic.

[michkima]

I hate these kinds of news, most of the time they are fake or just rumors. There have been plenty of these kinds of news for a long time and I have never seen a government or an actual company (that is non-crypto and significant like Microsoft or Apple) that really developed their own cryptocurrency or blockchain technology adoption. It just baffles me why there are so many news about this but none has really come true.

[Coffee135]

I hate these kinds of news, most of the time they are fake or just rumors. There have been plenty of these kinds of news for a long time and I have never seen a government or an actual company (that is non-crypto and significant like Microsoft or Apple) that really developed their own cryptocurrency or blockchain technology adoption. It just baffles me why there are so many news about this but none has really come true.

I do not pay attention to such news. What will change from this news? If you create thousands more altcoins they will not be able to resist bitcoin. Who is going to trust bitcoin that produces the state. You have a lot of confidence in the Fiat? The phenomenon of bitcoin depends mainly on the fact that the state does not have any relation to it.

[acquafredda]

Forget about cash, forget about Credit/Debit Cards, forget about your very bank account!
Since govs cannot control cryptocurrencies they will go for their own altcoin. I am very curious to know what we will be doing when we will be forced to accept this "new" money.
Mr. Robot scenarios will be nothing compared: not even George Orwell could have thought about something similar. Scary and sad at the same time

[BTCexpert1]

if they start them own virtual money they will help more new people to start using bitcoin because price is high and can earn fast

[Irvinn]

If China believes that this country will help its own digital currency, let it create it. Experiments in this area are necessary. This will be an invaluable experience for other countries. However, it is necessary to take into account that the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation stated that it is impossible to create such a crypto currency in a single country. Let's see what happens in China. They constantly reinvent their bicycle.

[Gotottack]

I have read so much about countries developing their own cryptocurrencies but to no avail. I think these write-ups are made to shaken things up with Bitcoins especially so that the latter's value is ever increasing. Nonetheless, if this were true to China, then good for them! Maybe it will be another counterpart of Bitcoins just that I cannot swear by its longevity considering that Bitcoins have been far its own league.

[Marry Finch]

The Chinese government has been thinking too long over the issue of regulating crypto currency and creating its own national digital currency. I would like to see how such an experiment will take root in the country and how such a centralized crypto currency will interact with decentralized, especially taking into account the fact that the Expert Council under the government of the Russian Federation stated that it is impossible to create such a crypto currency in a single country.

[gemelnik]

 Cool. Are there other countries developing their digital currencies? If yes, which ones?

I am doing research right now....

[Hatat]

China is the only place where national digital currency is going to succeed, well, maybe one of such places. We have examples already when a country use some other inside currency for business. Did you hear about Swiss WIR? I suppose China is plan to create something the similar for relationships between producers and buyers inside the country with some easy terms. If it is so that is really going to be progressive for all country.

As long as the Chinese state digital currency does not have a limit of supply, it still cannot compete with bitcoin.

[ahmedjamal1998]

What's up with all these governments trying to start up their own crypto currencies ?
First I heard about Russia, then China and even India as well.

Can't they get the idea that we're trying to get freedom in currency and not just trying to use a new form of payment ? That actually we're into crypto because it's decentralized and anonymous. That's actually why a lot of people were initially interested in bitcoins (not considering people who're in just for profits).

Creating crypto backed by governments is totally nothing new. They WILL have power and control over it and that's nothing related to cyprto. What would be the difference between their currencies and credit cards for example ? NOTHING.
You will still be tracked and still subject to THEIR monetary laws.

The thing is a lot of normal citizens who still gotten the chance to know about btc and crypto generally will surely trust these altcoins as they're issued by their beloved governments. -/meh.

Plus how will they have trade value, will other countries accept them ? Just so many questions which easily make me think that it won't happen.

[Slow death]

this does not surprise me, China has an authoritarian and communist government, just see things they do, they create obstacles to the use of the internet, there is almost no freedom of the press, constantly violate human rights, a country like this will never give freedom to its people and bitcoin or altcoins will always be a major obstacle to the Chinese government. I suppose the idea of his own altcoin is do brainwash in your own people, as it says: " we are not against digital currency, so much that we create our own digital currency, we are against bitcoin and altcoin because of its volatility"

[witerfesscott]

in other words china support bitcoin but need to control it so they make it’s own btc

[xFiber]

China is the only place where national digital currency is going to succeed, well, maybe one of such places. We have examples already when a country use some other inside currency for business. Did you hear about Swiss WIR? I suppose China is plan to create something the similar for relationships between producers and buyers inside the country with some easy terms. If it is so that is really going to be progressive for all country.

I don't think China is the only place where this can succeed I am sure that some Scandinavian countries would have good results if they were to implement something similar like China. In China the majority of people don't use cash anymore in the supermarkets but they use alipay. If you don't know what alipay is, it's basically a platform like Amazon (you can order basically anything online) but it also allows you to pay for goods and services in let's say the supermarket. So this project will most likely succeed if they do it right.

[Madeoffire]

Jeeez, these people would not own the fiat money in the world, but as well the ccrypto world would fall in their hands... We must start to do something, spot banning them, but to allow them to flourish

[hl5460]

PBoC Is Expected to Establish a Digital Currency Ecosystem

http://news.8btc.com/pboc-is-expected-to-establish-a-digital-currency-ecosystem

OP is right, there seems to be many moves for CBDC.