China Rolls Out Pilot Test of Digital Currency (wsj.com) 43
China's central bank has introduced a homegrown digital currency across four cities as part of a pilot program, marking a milestone on the path toward the first electronic payment system by a major central bank. The Wall Street Journal reports: Internal tests of the digital currency are being conducted in four large cities around China -- Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong'an, a satellite city of Beijing -- to improve the currency's functionality, the digital currency research institute under the People's Bank of China confirmed Monday, in response to a request for comment. Chinese domestic and state-run media outlets reported on the trials over the weekend. The trials followed years of research by the central bank dating back to 2014.
The new currency, which doesn't have an official name but is known by its internal shorthand "DC/EP," or "digital currency/electronic payment," will share some features with cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and Facebook Inc.'s Libra, PBOC officials have said. While it won't boast the anonymity that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tout, China's central bankers have vowed to protect users' privacy. The intention, China's central bankers have said, is to replace some of China's monetary base, or cash in circulation. It won't replace other parts of the country's money supply, such as bank deposits and balances held by privately-run payment platforms, Yi Gang, the governor of China's central bank, said last year.
In Xiangcheng, a district in the eastern city of Suzhou, the government will start paying civil servants half of their transport subsidy in the digital currency next month as part of the city's test run, according to a government worker with direct knowledge of the matter. Government workers were told to begin installing an app on their smartphones this month into which the digital currency would be transferred, the worker said. Civil servants were told that the new currency could be transferred into their existing bank accounts, or used directly for transactions at some designated merchants, the person said.
The new currency, which doesn't have an official name but is known by its internal shorthand "DC/EP," or "digital currency/electronic payment," will share some features with cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and Facebook Inc.'s Libra, PBOC officials have said. While it won't boast the anonymity that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tout, China's central bankers have vowed to protect users' privacy. The intention, China's central bankers have said, is to replace some of China's monetary base, or cash in circulation. It won't replace other parts of the country's money supply, such as bank deposits and balances held by privately-run payment platforms, Yi Gang, the governor of China's central bank, said last year.
In Xiangcheng, a district in the eastern city of Suzhou, the government will start paying civil servants half of their transport subsidy in the digital currency next month as part of the city's test run, according to a government worker with direct knowledge of the matter. Government workers were told to begin installing an app on their smartphones this month into which the digital currency would be transferred, the worker said. Civil servants were told that the new currency could be transferred into their existing bank accounts, or used directly for transactions at some designated merchants, the person said.
will it work in wet markets? Vendor fees? (Score:3)
will it work in wet markets? Vendor fees?
Re: wait what krypto kurrency is anonymous? (Score:2)
That does not answer the question.
Ever heard of search engines?
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I imagine so, they already use phones to pay for everything in markets. WeChat money and the like, transferred by scanning QR codes. Even the beggars have them.
The government heavily promoted it because cash transactions are untraceable and largely untaxable.
Privacy (Score:5, Insightful)
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No thank you! (Score:2)
And you thought Bitcoin was easily manipulated...
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And you thought Bitcoin was easily manipulated...
What leads you to believe it won't be 1:1 convertible into Yuan?
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What makes you think the Yuan has resistance to manipulation?
What makes you think it would have the slightest relevance either way?
Re: The beginning of the end of the Chinese Govern (Score:2)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/lifestyle/foreign-governments-condemn-hong-kong-034903199.html
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A full implementation of this plan will lead, eventually, to revolution.
If the millions of deaths resulting from the whacked-out ideas behind the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution didn't cause an overthrow of their government, I highly doubt that this little digital currency thing will.
This is concerning (Score:5, Interesting)
George Gammon had a very interesting video article on the US Federal Reserve's effort for FedCoin digital currency.... it allows for far more manipulation than just dollars being digital. From tracking every dollar spent, to limiting what kinds of loans the banks can use the dollars for, to even making the dollars expire like coupons if not used. The central banks are all sharing methods. It looks like China is one of the first deployment sites for their version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]. It's relatively long at 30 minutes, compared to an article on the topic, but it kept me interested.
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making the dollars expire like coupons if not used.
Wow... If thats the case I might as well get married and buy a big house because I make waaay too much to spend all my income in my current minimalist lifestyle and studio apartment.
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More surveillance of Chinese citizens (Score:2)
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China's central bankers have vowed to protect user (Score:1)
China's central bankers have vowed to protect users' privacy.
Laughable
US Government ought to prohibit its use (Score:2)
Every western nation ought to prohibit its citizens and companies from using this currency.
That's cute (Score:2)
Company Script (Score:1)
"or used directly for transactions at some designated merchants"
This sounds too much like the old "company script". Will there be "select designated merchants", selling government goods, at highly inflated prices that will be the only ones taking it? Maybe I'm just paranoid and mistrustful of China (well, the last one for sure), but I highly suspect so.
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They already use AliPay and WeChat for (Score:2)
everything. Why even bother? They're literally already tracking everything.
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No No No (Score:2)
No we don't want that. We already have digital money Bitcoin or Ethereum. We don't want something bank regulated and controlled. Telling you how you can spend your money. Charging you to use your own money. Government tracked. Plus we don't want the Government making money at to make it better for the Government. No we don't want that. We want something that is NOT controlled, tracked, charged for the use of it.
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We already have money in U.S. dollars that are mostly digital.
Bitcoin is not money, it is a game token with wildly fluctuating value. It fails the basics tests of money. It it not accepted everywhere, it is illiquid, it does not have stable value. Its value could go to zero in a moment if a large government decided to act against it.
Remember Mondex (Score:2)
Is this similar to the Mondex experiment in the UK?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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I tried to find technical information but couldn't. The only claim I could find was that it is Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) but that's hardly a very well defined term. It says nothing about the privacy implications or the technical possibilities/risks. Especially the privacy implications would be a huge concern in China.
The e-krona pilot in Sweden is using the R3 Corda platform which sounded kind of sane last time I looked into it. I just doubt China would implement anything sane... I'd expect them t
FUCK THE CCP (Score:1)
Facility (Score:2)
While it won't boast the anonymity that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tout, China's central bankers have vowed to protect users' privacy.
...from everyone except the ones it matters most, the dictatorship's panopticon.
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here it comes... (Score:1)