Four doubts about the central bank’s digital currency!

Author's note: On January 20, 2016, the People's Bank of China held a seminar on digital currency in Beijing. Please note: Governor Zhou Xiaochuan attended the meeting.

Last night I saw someone leave a message on the news: @王思聪, husband, the central bank is going to issue digital currency, let’s invest in Bitcoin. I laughed. If I remember correctly, it should be this national husband who said that whoever invests in Bitcoin is a fool.

However, I wrote this article too late. Several financial and industry information websites have a news release that reads, "On January 20, 2016, the People's Bank of China held a digital currency seminar in Beijing. Digital currency research experts from the People's Bank of China, Citibank and Deloitte discussed and exchanged views on topics such as the overall framework for digital currency issuance, national digital currency in the evolution of currency, and encrypted electronic currency issued by the state. People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan attended the meeting, and People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Fan Yifei presided over the meeting. Experts from relevant domestic and foreign research institutions, important financial institutions and consulting institutions attended the meeting."

It is very regrettable that the author did not see any media outlets comment on the news, nor did they interview some industry insiders for their opinions, and they just directly issued the press release. The author has been engaged in financial media for more than ten years, and he really hates press releases. A news report without a sense of presence is really worrying.

I read the press release seven times from beginning to end, but could not find any reference to Governor Zhou Xiaochuan's opinion. It is a pity that he attended the meeting but did not express his opinion, or expressed his opinion but the press release did not issue it.

The author raises several doubts about this meeting (this is just a personal opinion).

The first doubt: the participants of this meeting are very suspicious. Why did Citibank and Deloitte participate in the discussion meeting on the overall framework of the issuance of digital currency by the central bank of my country? Are there no talents in state-owned banks or financial institutions? Besides, is "Citicoin" already a successful cryptocurrency? Deloitte is indeed leading in blockchain research for the time being, but it should not be enough to give advice to Comrade Zhou Xiaochuan. Have you forgotten what Governor Zhou said at the 2014 Boao Forum for Asia that Bitcoin is a commodity, not a currency? Is Governor Zhou shooting himself in the foot?

The second doubt: I still don’t know whether the conference discussed electronic currency or cryptocurrency. Electronic currency is centralized, and cryptocurrency is decentralized. Judging from the main participants of the conference, they should represent the power of decentralization, so the spirit of the conference should be to discuss the issuance of decentralized cryptocurrency, but judging from the results of the conference reported by the media, it is the argument of electronic currency. It is really dizzying.

The third questionable point is about blockchain. Citi and Deloitte have already had some achievements and cases in blockchain research, but I don’t know whether they have reported it to their leaders. If they have, why is there no relevant content in the press release? If they have not reported it, I really don’t understand the significance of the research experts of these two companies attending this conference.

The fourth questionable point is the so-called "international experience in issuing digital currencies". I really don't understand it. Isn't the international experience in issuing digital currencies Bitcoin? Since the central bank has defined the commodity attributes of Bitcoin, what about digital currencies? Did the central bank go back on its word?

Maybe it's my fault that I can only see such a bizarre and incomprehensible meeting. Ask the cause and effect of everything. I don't know why the meeting was held, and I don't know what policies will be introduced after the meeting? If it was just a closed-door meeting, why did they issue a press release? If the media was invited to enter, why couldn't the media reporters ask questions at such a good opportunity? The most important thing is: Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, why don't you talk about your views? You know, too many people want to hear what you say. Not speaking is really scary.

By the way, last night I asked a friend in the capital to ask @王思聪 about his opinion on this matter, but I have not received a reply yet.

Author: Jerry Chen, a financial uncle. Founder and managing director of Gaoronghui Capital. Observer of GRH Blockchain and Digital Asset Laboratory.