Mobile phones have finally become “new wallets”, and we have fewer and fewer opportunities to touch banknotes.
Editor’s note: This article comes from the WeChat public account “Geek Park” (ID: geekpark) , author: Jingyu.
Recently, pictures of the central bank’s digital currency DC / EP are being exposed online by state-owned banks such as Agricultural Bank of China and ICBC. At the same time, media sources said that the state is conducting digital currency pilot work in Shenzhen, Suzhou and other places. Among them, state-owned enterprises and institutions in Suzhou, 50% of the transportation subsidy of employees’ wages, will be issued in the form of central bank digital currency.
After the news of the central bank’s digital currency pilot work appeared, it also triggered multiple discussions. Recently, CCTV has also popularized some basic information about the central bank’s digital currency DC / EP to the program. Generally speaking, as the digital form of fiat currency, the central bank digital goods can be regarded as the “digital form” of RMB banknotes. Digital currency has the advantages of low circulation cost, easy maintenance, anonymity but traceability, and the ability to conduct transactions offline.
At the same time, as a transaction form different from Alipay and WeChat payment, if the central bank digital currency is successfully issued, it will also have a certain impact on the advanced mobile payment pattern. Banks with a low sense of mobile payment will have the opportunity to break through Alipay. The payment market situation controlled by WeChat Pay.
“RMB” on your phone
Speaking of digital currencies, it is estimated that some people will think of various air coins issued by the “coin circle” that specializes in cutting leeks, but the digital currency DC / EP issued by the central bank is fundamentally different from the blockchain currency. The full name of DC / EP is the abbreviation of Digital Currency / Electronic Payment, that is, digital currency and electronic payment.
The value of bitcoin and other digital currencies comes from the consensus mechanism of different systems, and the value of the central bank ’s digital currency is equivalent to the physical RMB banknotes, or it can be understood that the central bank ’s digital currency is the number of RMB stored on digital devices form.
Image source: Internet
Since there are paper money, why does the central bank still issue digital currency, because the latter has many characteristics that the former does not have. First, digital currencyCirculation in digital form does not require banknote printing and logistics, saving the cost of RMB in circulation. Secondly, anonymity, digital currency can realize anonymous transactions like paper money, and usually the mobile payment we usually use, each will leave traces on commercial banks and payment institutions. At the same time, although transactions can be made anonymously, when a large number or transactions can occur, the source and destination of these currencies are traceable and can be recovered in the future, but this cannot be done with paper money.
At the same time, due to the different technologies used, the central bank’s digital currency can realize dual offline transactions, even when subways, airplanes, etc. are offline. On the pictures of bank digital currency wallets exposed online, you can see a “touch-and-touch” button, suggesting that two offline users can realize touch-and-touch transfers, just as two people in life can give each other banknotes.
How do people get the central bank’s digital currency? According to the CCTV introduction, the central bank ’s digital currency uses a two-layer management model, that is, the central bank will “wholesale” the digital currency to commercial banks or third-party institutions, and the latter will provide the same amount of reserve in the central bank; then, ordinary users can Banks and institutions use cash or deposits in exchange for the equivalent amount of digital currency, the “retail” link.
Specifically, each bank and institution will have a “digital wallet” to store the user’s digital currency. This wallet may be a separate app or it may be integrated into existing applications.
Mobile payment “new window”
When it comes to RMB on mobile phones, some people would say such a “digital currency”. Isn’t the mobile payment we use every day the same? In fact, there is an essential difference, because like Alipay or WeChat payment, it is actually the user ’s deposit in a commercial bank, that is, M0 fiat currency + sight / period; and the central bank digital currency is a digital asset stored separately in digital devices. For example, the same is 100 yuan, which is just a string of numbers in a commercial bank account, and in a digital wallet, it may be embodied as a 50 yuan digital currency and five 10 yuan digital currency archives.
At present, with the popularization of smart phones, the annual amount of mobile payments in China has reached several trillion yuan, and the mobile payment market is currently basically divided equally between Alipay and mobile payments. The central bank’s digital currency issuance may bring new changes to the mobile payment industry. Commercial banks that had previously been reduced to “clearing tools” on the Internet platform can now use the digital currency opportunityPromote your own digital wallet and mobile payment solutions.
Of course, the current mobile payment giants, like Alipay and WeChat Pay (Telepay), can also be used as institutions to qualify for the distribution and circulation of digital currency. In fact, in the past two months, Alipay has intensively released several patent documents on digital currency storage, circulation and digital wallets. It can be seen that Ali has been involved in the development and circulation of digital currency very early. It is foreseeable that in the future, Alipay or WeChat payment is likely to integrate the digital wallet function in the existing App to form the dual payment function of digital currency and bank account to stabilize its own advantages in mobile payment.
Please calm down the “currency circle”
After the news of the central bank’s pilot digital currency appeared, the “currency circle”, which has been deserted for a long time, ushered in the hustle and bustle of a long absence. Stocks with the concept of “digital currency” such as Huijin, Gao Weida, Feitian Chengxin skyrocketed against the market, and even the always bearish bitcoin price exceeded the $ 7,000 mark.
For a time, the central bank’s digital currency can be exchanged with Bitcoin; legal currency can legally enter the “currency circle”; DC / EP can be fired and other rumors are very popular. Unfortunately, as stated in the article, the digital currency currently piloted by the central bank is essentially a digital form of legal currency in circulation, which is fundamentally different from the so-called “digital currency” such as Bitcoin.
The speculators who think about “currency speculation” may be disappointed because the central bank’s digital currency is a digital RMB, which will only be exchanged 1: 1 at banks and institutions, and there is no room for speculation.
Second, China currently prohibits the exchange of fiat currencies to digital currencies such as bitcoin, and if DC / EP is officially used, not only will there be no exchange of DC / EP and bitcoin, but the illegal exchange of bitcoin will be because of the illegal exchange of bitcoin. The issuance of central bank digital currency is easier to track.
Finally, there is currently no evidence that the central bank ’s digital currency adopts the form of blockchain. Of course, DC / EP may borrow blockchain technology in aspects such as identity verification, public key and key, but it cannot be explained. DC / EP adopts blockchain.
Therefore, whether it is a “currency circle” or a “chain circle”, the current relationship with the central bank’s digital currency is not great. Speculators who want to take the opportunity of DC / EP to “cut leek” are better to calm down.