A deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said the country views bitcoin and state mines as cryptocurrencies – not currencies – and therefore it is investment alternatives.
Li Bo, a newly appointed deputy governor of the Chinese central bank, said during the Bo’Ao Asia Forum event that until the PBoC determines what kind of regulatory requirements it needs to prevent the speculative nature of such assets from serious financial create stability. risk, it will maintain its current position on the asset class.
Li made the remark in English in a panel discussion on the overall topic of central bank’s digital currency Sunday night China time. Zhou Xiaochuan, the former governor of the PBoC, Agustín Carstens, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, as well as managers of Thailand’s central bank and SWIFT added him.
Li’s comments were in response to a question raised by moderator Arjun Kharpal, a senior correspondent at CNBC, as to whether China will maintain a tough stance on crypto-commerce going forward.
“We view bitcoin and stablecoins as crypto-assets. Crypto-assets, as Agustin has just discussed, are investment alternatives, they are not currency per se. The main purpose we see for crypto-assets, going forward, is mainly investment alternatives,” he said. he said and added:
“In terms of investment options, many countries, including China, are still, [are] to look at it and think about what kind of regulatory requirements – perhaps minimal, but we need to have some kind of regulatory requirement – to prevent the speculative nature of such assets [from creating] any serious financial stability risk. And before we have a clear idea of what kind of regulation we need, I think we will comply with our current regulation, ‘he added.
The Chinese central bank issued a ban on initial coin offering activities in 2017 and ordered domestic crypto exchanges to stop the fiat up and down channel for investors.
The main idea was that no centralized crypto exchanges should be allowed to be a bank custodian of the Chinese yuan. Since then, exchanges like Huobi and OKEx have only been able to have crypto-to-crypto order books, while offering over-the-counter desktops as a fiat ramp-up method for users.
In addition, Li’s comment on steel coins was also in line with other central bank executives that strong regulation should apply.
“For stable currencies, these are crypto-assets, and if they are to be widely accepted as a payment solution, we need stronger regulations, stronger than bitcoin, perhaps in the sense of something like a currency board,” he said. “Furthermore, I think that stable money, which may have the vision of becoming a generally accepted payment solution, should be regulated like a bank or a quasi-bank.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Li said China was on track to broaden its acceptance of its central bank’s digital currency, known as the e-CNY or DC / EP.
He added that during the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, the e-CNY will not only be open to domestic users, but also to foreign consumers and international guests. But Li said the internationalization of Renminbi was not meant to replace the dollars.
“Our goal is absolutely not to replace the US dollar or any other international currency. Our goal is to make the market choose,” he said.
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