People’s Bank Of China Ramps Up Crypto Development

China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), announced that it has accelerated the development of its own cryptocurrency, reported Cointelegraph on Sunday (Aug. 4).

PBoC hosted a video conference on Aug. 2 to discuss its priorities for the second half of 2019, saying cryptocurrencies will be closely monitored. It suggested that it should accelerate the research and development of its digital currency. Additionally, the bank said that it should strengthen financial risk remediation as well as its policy propaganda interpretation and respond quickly to social concerns. 

Wang Xin, director of the bank’s research bureau, said last month in a statement that China’s central bank is considering developing its own cryptocurrency. The statement also said it would pay attention to other domestic and foreign cryptocurrencies.

Huawei founder and CEO Zhengfei Ren also said that China has more power than Facebook when it comes to issuing cryptocurrencies, and if it moves into the crypto space, it will have a big impact.

Also in July, former PBoC governor Zhou Xiaochuan warned that the country must take precautions against Libra. Zhou served as PBoC governor from 2003–2018, a period when the government began cracking down on crypto-related business and activities, including a ban on initial coin offerings.

Zhengfei also said he doesn’t expect China to retaliate against Apple, despite the Chinese telecom company being blacklisted by the White House. He said Huawei would “protest” any moves by the Chinese government for retaliation against Apple because of the White House stepping up the trade war. Earlier in May, the U.S. slapped $200 billion in tariffs on goods coming into the U.S.

Cointelegraph reported at the end of July that Facebook warned investors that Libra might not ever be released due to the increasing regulatory concern. Meanwhile, retail giant Walmart has filed for a patent for its own digital currency similar to Libra.