This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Lylian Teng.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, revealed that it would accelerate the pace of research and development of its fiat digital currency.
During an August 2, 2019, video conference centering on the institute’s work focus for the second half of 2019, the PBoC stated that it will accelerate the research and development of its fiat digital currency, while paying close attention to the development of other domestic and foreign virtual currencies, and continuing to strengthen internet financial risk remediation.
The PBoC has seemingly prioritized the development of a digital renminbi in the second half of 2019 in response to the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies globally, especially following the announcement of cryptocurrency project libra from social media giant Facebook in mid-June. Of late, retail giant Walmart has also been reportedly working on issuing a USD-pegged digital currency that is similar to Facebook’s libra.
It’s not just business enterprises that are considering issuing their own digital currencies. Central banks, including the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada and the Swedish central bank Riksbank, are also working on their own fiat digital currencies.
China’s central bank initiated a study on digital currency in general and its central bank-backed digital currency early in 2014 when bitcoin began to gain popularity in the country. In an effort to promote the research and development of digital currency, the PBoC has specially set up digital currency research institutes in several cities, like Shenzhen, and has been working closely with local organizations. It has also been working with market institutions on creating a central bank digital currency after receiving approval from
