China prepares its own virtual currency to counter Facebook

At the end of September, the head of the central bank, Yi Gang, said that the future virtual currency would be associated with electronic payment means (WeChat, AliPay …) that the Chinese already use in their phones for pay most of their purchases. .

Yi gave no date or details about the operation of the play, but the Chinese press announced a launch on November 11, the day of the "bachelor party", during which there is a frenzy of Shopping online.

"We can consider a blockchain technology (such as Bitcoin) or another that stems from existing electronic payments," Yi said. But it will be managed centrally, unlike what happens with bitcoin.

"The central bank will be at the first level as coordinator and other banking institutions of the country below," said Stanislas Pogorzelski, editor of the Cryptonaute.fr specialized website, who added that his goal is to "replace species. " Until two years ago, China's three main bitcoin transaction platforms (BTC China, Okcoin and Huobi) accounted for more than 98 percent of world trade, according to the bitcoinity.org reference site.

The sector was not regulated and transactions went under the radar of the authorities. The government has therefore closed the cryptocurrency exchange platforms in 2017.

But the communist regime fears being defeated by Facebook's future currency, locked up in China.

The book, whose launch is scheduled for next year, will allow you to buy goods and pay with the same ease as sending an instant message.

Like bitcoin, the pound sterling "represents a danger to the yuan" at a time when Beijing is concerned about the stabilization of its currency, said Song Houze, of the think tank MacroPolo, specializing in the Chinese economy.

The announcement of the birth of the pound is an "alert" for Beijing, according to a senior official of the central bank quoted in the Chinese press. He explains that this could shock the international monetary system.

The draft Pound Sterling is being rejected by several governments, such as the United States and some European countries, concerned about Facebook 's bad reputation on privacy and data protection issues and fearing that it' s bad news. to be used to deceive the Treasury.

Several companies, such as credit card issuers Visa and Mastercard, eBay's online trading platform, has been removed from the project. Song warns that the Chinese central bank should not be overlooked that "the use of paper money diminishes".

With a national cryptocurrency, the authorities will have "a better perception of transactions in the country," said analysts Trivium China, based in Beijing. The virtual currency could help "improve risk management and reduce embezzlement," they said in a note.

The central bank may "get new information that it can not get with a cash transaction," Song said.

Less traceable, cash currency "represents the last bastion in terms of privacy," said Pogorzelski.

In a country where "social credit" systems and face-recognition surveillance cameras are widespread, cryptocurrency could allow "more surveillance of the facts and actions of the population," he warns.