China Close to issuing its own cryptocurrency

People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is close to issuing its own cryptocurrency, Shanghai Security News reports. This is in line with earlier public statements made by China stating that they are eyeing to release their cryptocurrency by August 2019.

Better known as central bank digital currencies (CDBC) to those in industry, China’s version of cryptocurrency has been in the works for the past 5 years, and the regulator have sped up its efforts to launch it in response to Facebook’s Libra.

Mu Chang Chun, Deputy Chief in the Payment and Settlement Division, PBoC, told media that China’s cryptocurrency will not rely solely on blockchain technology.

Though it is reported that there are currently at least 40 central banks across the globe are working in some capacity with blockchain and distributed ledger technology, China will be among the first major economy to issue it own cryptocurrency if it is launched as scheduled.