One month after claiming to be «almost ready», People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang moderated expectations and emphasized the need for further review.
Further «research, testing, trials, assessments and risk prevention» will be required before the introduction of any sovereign digital currency, said PBoC’s Yi, adding that the central bank did not «have a timetable».
Expectations were buoyed after PBoC statements last month said it was «almost ready» to launch.
«In particular, if the [sovereign] digital currency involves cross-border use, it will involve a series of regulatory issues regarding anti-money-laundering, anti-terrorism financing, anti-tax evasion as well as know-your-client protocols,» Yi said at a Beijing-based press conference.
Cryptocurrency with Chinese Characteristics
China aspires to transform the state crypto into a currency with the same legitimacy as the yuan with coins made available through four state-owned banks and tech giants Tencent, China Union Pay and Ant Financial, according to officials.
This is expected to accelerate the internationalization of the yuan and counter emerging currencies such as bitcoin or Facebook’s Libra which is backed by a basket of currencies that excludes the renminbi.
But aside from acting as an alternative, its technology also differs from conventional cryptocurrencies. Rather than using decentralized «pure blockchain» technology, state media notes that the sovereign coin will be tightly controlled by the government.
