Yesterday, China’s Digital Currency Research Institute revealed that the proposed new digital currency of the country is expected to strike a balance between regulatory enforcement and adequate privacy protection.
As explained by a state banking official earlier this week, the proposed digital currency, which for the time being is under the working title “Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP)”, is not about control. According to the banking official, the digital yuan will help the authorities more effectively monitor online gambling, tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist organizations financing and other cybercrimes.
As Reuters reported, the boss of the digital currency research institute at the People’s Bank of China, Mu Changchun, said the mainland Government believes that people would prefer to keep their anonymity by using paper money and coins. He further explained that the implementation of the new digital currency would provide what he called “controllable anonymity”.
Mr. Mu did not provide more details about the possible release date of the digital currency. The DCEP project has already been five years in the making but the People’s Bank of China’s official shared that it was almost ready. As a whole, there have not been many details regarding the development and possible adoption of digital yuan. It is known that the currency will be partially based on blockchain technology.
Crypto and Blockchain Circles Remain Divided on Digital Currency Issues
Chinese digital currency has resulted in a rift between crypto and blockchain circles. According to some analysts, the adoption of a bitcoin-adjacent currency system by the largest nation by number in the world would be useful, while others have shared concerns related to possible authoritarian surveillance and control that could be established by the implementation of the proposed new stablecoin project.
As confirmed by the Central Bank of China, cash-like levels of privacy would be guaranteed with the digital currency but also admitted that it would keep the ability to impose stricter control measures on users in case it suspects they use it for illegal activity, such as online gambling or money laundering.
Some opponents of the DCEP project have shared fears that the implementation of the digital currency would provide the Government of mainland China with unprecedented access to oversight over local people’s money flows. However, according to proponents of the project, it would be helpful for the authorities to control some illegal activities that could be happening in the country, including gambling.
As previously reported by CasinoGamesPro, gambling is currently illegal on the territory of mainland China. The only exception is made for state-controlled sports lottery and the state lottery. The Government is currently operating a massive program blocking online gambling and other illegal services offered over the Internet that has been regarded as “the Great Firewall”. Under this program, online gambling operators’ domains and services of other undesirable companies are currently blocked in the country.
