A senior official from China’s central bank today announced that its upcoming digital currency is not an attempt to gain control over people’s information, according to reporting by Reuters.
“We know the demand from the general public is to keep anonymity by using paper money and coins...we will give those people who demand it anonymity in their transactions,” said Mu Changchun, who heads the People's Bank of China's digital currency research institute, at a conference in Singapore.
Changchun said that, simultaneous to the need for privacy, the government would “keep the balance between the 'controllable anonymity' and anti-money laundering, CTF (counter-terrorist financing), and also tax issues, online gambling and any electronic criminal activities.”
"That is a balance we have to keep, and that is our goal. We are not seeking full control of the information of the general public,” he added.
Mu said that the point of the currency, called the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) was to create a new system that would boost financial inclusion in rural areas.
He also said that the DECP would help provide an alternative to WeChat Pay and Alipay, the two companies that currently dominate the payments industry in China. Changchun told Chinese media outlet Sina in September that it would be compatible with both payment systems.
Mu gave no indication as to when the currency would be launched, but in August said that it was “almost ready.”