Barely a month after it accelerated its crypto plans, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) is now reportedly “ready.”
The Token Post, citing the Shanghai Securities News, reported yesterday that the Middle Kingdom will be rolling out its CBDC “soon.”
Mu Changchun, deputy chief of the People’s Bank of China’s payments and settlements unit, said that the CBDC prototype is running on a slightly modified blockchain infrastructure back-end and that the PBOC has “fully adopted the currency’s blockchain architecture.”
The currency, however, was designed primarily for “small-scale retail high-frequency business scenarios” and as such, would not be relying completely on blockchain. It will run on a two-tier operating system – “to accommodate China’s ‘complex economy with a vast territory and a large population’” – with the PBOC at the top and banks at a secondary level.
“This dual delivery system is suitable for our national conditions. It can use existing resources to mobilize the enthusiasm of commercial banks and smoothly improve the acceptance of digital currency,” he explained.
Changchun revealed that the currency has been in the research and development phase for the past 5 years, and during last Saturday’s meeting, he said that “People’s Bank digital currency can now be said to be ready.”
Photo: Max Braun