Bitcoin continues to soar, Zhou Xiaochuan says central bank digital currency is different from Bitcoin

Bitcoin prices continued to soar in the Asian session on Monday (February 15). Although they fell slightly after reaching a high during the session, they still maintained the upward trend of the previous trading day.

The quotes released by BITSTAMP show that Bitcoin/ US dollar (XBT/USD) rose from below 373 to around 382 on the previous trading day, and continued to rise in the Asian session of this trading day, and is currently trading around 403.

(Bitcoin/USD time-sharing chart source: Bloomberg, FX168 Financial Network)

The quotes released by KRAKEN show that Bitcoin/ Euro (XBT/EUR) rose from below 330 to around 339 in the previous trading day, and further rose in the Asian session of this trading day. Although it fell slightly during the session, it is still on an upward trend overall and is currently around 357.

(Bitcoin/Euro time-sharing chart source: Bloomberg, FX168 Financial Network)

The quotes released by Huobi.com show that Bitcoin/ RMB has soared from around 2620 to 2796, and has currently fallen slightly to around 2765.

(Bitcoin/RMB 30-minute chart source: Huobi.com)

On the industry front, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a speech on Saturday (February 13) that digital currency as legal tender must be issued by the central bank.

When talking about digital currency and digital RMB , Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said that the People's Bank of China started studying digital currency very early. The establishment of a digital currency issuance and circulation system is very necessary for the construction of financial infrastructure and promoting economic quality, efficiency and upgrading.

Zhou Xiaochuan said that a variety of information technology means, including cryptographic algorithms, will be used to ensure that digital currency cannot be forged. Future technologies will also be upgraded, and technological upgrades will be taken into account in advance, introducing the concept of long-term evolution from the beginning.

Zhou Xiaochuan pointed out that the "51% attack" issue that is much discussed outside is more about Bitcoin, which does not need a central bank. For the digital currency controlled by the central bank, a series of technical means, mechanism design and laws and regulations will be adopted to ensure the security of the digital currency operation system, which is different from the design concept of Bitcoin from the beginning.

At 14:00 on February 15th, Beijing time, Bitcoin/USD was 403.57, Bitcoin/Euro was 357.62, and Bitcoin/RMB was 2768.20.